Dark x Wizard x Hunter
by Mrs.InsaneOne
Summary: Guilt over the part she played in Sirius's death at the end of her fifth year sends Harriet A. Potter on a quest for the strength to fulfill the prophecy that Dumbledore sprang upon her after the DoM fiasco. Features Fem!Harry, Fem!Dudley, and Male!Hermione. Pairing is HP/KK
1. Ticket x to x Nowhere

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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**Dark x Wizard x Hunter  
**Chapter One: Ticket x to x Nowhere

Harriet Azalea Potter, better known as Azalea to those she called friends, stared unseeingly out the car window as her uncle drove them home. Her thoughts twisted round and round as they endlessly chased a single fleeting thought; _neither can live while the other survives._ Kill or be killed; that was what her entire life boiled down to. She had to kill Voldemort or Voldemort would kill her. Of course, Voldemort wouldn't stop at just killing Azalea; no, the Dark Lord would kill anyone that got in his way as well as killing anyone that didn't match up to his twisted standards. The soon to be sixteen year old witch was drawn out of her introspection at that point by the loud, whiny voice of her cousin.

"But daaad, I want to be a Hunter," Dahlia whined with a petulance that Azalea hadn't heard in years. "I want to travel the world looking for treasure and be famous! Couch Steiner said I have a real chance at passing the exam! I could get all the extra boxing training I needed for free once I get my Hunter's License."

"Absolutely not! No daughter of mine will be mixed up with those lawless heathens! Unnatural, I tell you, gallivanting all over the world living on the tax-payer's dollar and chasing after fairy tales! Why, they'd take advantage of you in a heartbeat and ruin you completely! There are days when I wonder how on earth I let that man talk me into allowing my little princess to participate in a sport as violent as boxing but I have to draw the line somewhere. My answer is; no. End of discussion."

"Couch Steiner already booked me passage to the exam site and the boat leaves tomorrow morning from Portsmouth; I'm already packed."

"I said no! You'll not be going. It's bad enough we we're saddled with one freak in the family; I'll not let anyone turn my daughter into a second."

Azalea tuned out the rest of the argument and sat back in her seat, her mind running a mile a minute as she remembered the long ago dream she'd had to be a Hunter; to travel the world searching for the elusive unknown. She'd buried that dream when she'd learned about her magic thinking that she'd found something even better. Now, she wished she'd stuck to her original goals; maybe then she would not have gotten her godfather and Cedric killed and the rest of her friends seriously injured.

'_Training,_' Azalea thought as her vibrant emerald eyes returned to watching the passing scenery once more. '_I could use some serious training; free or not. Dumbledore isn't going to give it to me though, despite what he promised the other day; I could see it in his eyes. If he was truly going to train me, he'd have started training me years ago. If anything, the old goat plans to sit me down and tell me all about Voldemort's tragic past over crumpets and tea in order for me to better understand my enemy and feel sorry for him instead of teaching me how to kick his arse. No, if I want any real training, then I'll have to get it myself; just like I've always done._'

Azalea sat up straighter as she realized she'd just been given the perfect opportunity to recapture her childhood dream and get herself the training she needed to defeat Voldemort. All she had to do was convince Dahlia to part with her boarding pass and then she could go in her cousin's place to take the Hunter's Exam. Better yet, if she could steal the boarding pass out from under her cousin's nose, then Dahlia would think Uncle Vernon had taken the boarding pass and thrown it out. All she had to do was avoid getting caught taking the boarding pass and then she'd be gone in a heartbeat and free to get the training she needed.

Thoughts of Ron Weasley, Horatio Granger, and Ginny Weasley (her best friends) crowded into Azalea's mind at that point and she felt a rush of sadness, regret, and guilt pour through her as she recalled how seriously they'd been injured all because she hadn't listened to Horatio. She should have known he was right; he was always right. Instead, she had to be her usual pigheaded self and she'd dragged them all into a dangerous trap that had nearly killed Ron and Horatio and seriously injured Ginny, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood (the latter being a relatively new friend that she'd made during the previous school term).

As much as she wanted all of her friends by her side, she knew she couldn't drag them into potentially worse danger than she already had; it wouldn't be fair to them or their families.

Once they arrived home, Azalea carried her things up to her room and promptly locked herself inside of her room before she dumped out the contents of her trunk onto her bed. She then began carefully sorting through everything in order to figure out what she needed and what she could leave behind. All of her robes were folded up and tucked back into the trunk; she would have no use for them in the muggle world. Her winter cloak was set aside since it was normal enough looking that no one would question her using it. The hand knitted sweaters Mrs. Weasley had given her and the bulk of her hand-me-down clothes were also packed back into her trunk.

Her invisibility cloak, the Marauder's Map, her Firebolt, the exquisite ruby jewelry set that Sirius had given her on her fifteenth birthday (because she didn't dare leave something that valuable behind), the photo album Hagrid had given her in her first year, and the shards of the two-way mirror she'd broken a few days earlier were quickly set aside to take as well (the shards carefully tucked into a sock in the hopes she might be able to repair the mirror at some point). Next she carefully sorted through the books she'd purchased or been given through the years; carefully choosing only those that would be useful (such as _Practical Defensive Magic and its Use Against the Dark Arts_ that Sirius and Remus had given her for Christmas this past year).

The only other equipment that Azalea kept from her school supplies was her silver potions knife, her writing supplies, and her book bag; the rest of it pretty useless outside of class in Azalea's mind. The last thing Azalea tucked into her old trunk was Hedwig's cage, after letting the owl out. Azalea then locked the trunk and dragged it back downstairs where she was soon cornered by her suspicious uncle.

"What are you doing then, girl?"

"I wanted to lock up my trunk," Azalea stated politely as she gestured towards the piece of luggage in question. "I know you don't feel comfortable with my things out in the open and I thought I'd save you a trip up to my room and the usual fight and bring it down myself this time."

"Why would you do that? What are you planning?"

Azalea did some fast thinking as she stood there; she knew that she'd only make things worse if she said the wrong thing. She thought again of the boarding pass that Dahlia had been given and she recalled what her uncle had said about one freak in the family being more than enough. Nodding her head slowly, Azalea offered her uncle the truth and crossed her fingers that it wouldn't get her locked in her room for the rest of the summer.

"I'm leaving. I need to be trained and the adults like me aren't going to help me," Azalea stated as she steadily met her uncle's gaze. "You don't want Dahlia to enter the Hunter Exams and I need to. If you give me her boarding pass, it will solve all of our problems; I'll be out of your hair for the rest of the summer, Dahlia won't be able to sneak off in the middle of the night, and I'll be getting the training I need. If the wizards show up looking for me, you can tell them the truth; that I left to train of my own free will."

Uncle Vernon glared at Azalea for a full five minutes before he pursed his lips and muttered, "Deal. I'll get you the damn boarding pass right now but you better find your own way to the boat."

"Not a problem, I'll leave just as soon as I finish packing the things I'll need to take with me."

Azalea didn't wait around to see her uncle toss her trunk into the cupboard under the stairs as she hurried back up to finish her packing. Ten minutes later, her uncle handed her the boarding pass while Dahlia glared down at them from the stairs. Azalea thanked her uncle before she slipped her invisibility cloak on over her winter cloak (the witch wearing the bulky garment because there hadn't been room for it in her bag) and slipped out the backdoor. As she slipped out of the backyard, she prayed that Mad-eye wasn't on Potter Watch for the evening since he would easily see through Azalea's cloak. Hedwig had been sent on ahead so she wouldn't draw any attention to her and so the owl wouldn't have to suffer through a trip on the Knight Bus.

She walked through the streets for an hour and constantly checked her back trail for anyone following her before she determined that she'd gone far enough. Pulling off her cloak, she tucked it under her shirt and pulled up the hood on her winter cloak in order to hide her face so that she wouldn't be recognized as she brought out her wand and summoned the Knight Bus. The triple tiered purple bus appeared with a loud bang two minutes later and Azalea climbed up inside after paying the eleven sickle fare; her first destination, Diagon Alley.

The ride was as jarring as it had been the first time she rode the magically enhanced bus just before her third year and Azalea nearly kissed the ground in relief when she stepped down off the nightmarish mode of transportation. She'd never understand why most forms of magical travel had to be vomit-inducing; flying brooms the only notable exception she'd encountered to date. Shaking off her nausea, Azalea entered the Leaky Cauldron and made her way through to the alley out back so she could open the entrance to Diagon Alley.

Her first stop was Gringotts where she withdrew three thousand galleons and exchanged two thousand of it for pounds sterling. She ended up signing several documents the moment the goblins had recognized her through her vault key and promptly informed her that her godfather had left her everything upon his death. That had been a hard blow to Azalea's already bruised heart but she soldiered through it. She then promptly shoved her loss to the back of her mind as she made out a will of her own to keep that money out of Death Eater hands in the event that she died (either during the Hunter's Exam or later when she faced Voldemort).

Her next stop had been the luggage store to purchase a larger book bag because her things barely fit inside of the book bag she had and she still wanted to buy some foodstuffs and ready made healing potions to have on hand. She ended up paying for her current book bag to be upgraded with several nifty charms instead of buying a new one; an undetectable Extension Charm (so the bag would hold far more), an Impervius Charm (to make the bag waterproof), an Indestructible Charm (to prevent the bag from being damaged), a Featherweight Charm (so weight would not be an issue), and an Anti-Theft Charm to prevent anyone from stealing anything out of her bag.

Azalea had then visited a handful of other stores to purchase a few more books with useful spells (including a rare tome on wandless magic from a junk shop), a Home Healer's Kit (the wizarding equivalent of a first aide kit), a penknife that was exactly like the one Sirius had given her (which she had first ruined and subsequently lost in the Department of Mysteries), basic camping supplies, a used one-bedroom magical tent (fully furnished), and a fully stocked magical stasis box (for the tent). After a short internal debate, the young witch purchased several changes of clothes from the men's section of a second hand robe shop (ones that could pass for muggle wear and that were layered with an assortment of spells that made them more comfortable and more durable) so that she could pass herself off as a boy in order to avoid unwanted attention from unscrupulous men.

Next she bought a dragon-hide cloak that would provide better protection than her old winter cloak, two pairs of dragon-hide gloves, and a pair of dragon-hide boots (all of them made from the skin of a Hungarian Horntail). She also stocked up on owl treats, bottled water, butterbeer, pumpkin juice, healthy snacks, plenty of fresh ingredients so she could cook for herself when needed, and tons of wizarding candy. Her last stop of the day was the future location of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes where she was given a ton of prank supplies after Fred and George wheedled her plans out of her the moment they discovered her peering through the windows of their newly rented shop.

That was when Azalea learned that no known witch or wizard had ever before taken and passed the Hunter's Exam; the identical wizards telling her that magicals feared Hunters almost as much as they feared dark lords because the Hunters were known to hunt magicals. Azalea was a little skeptical about the validity of their claim but thanked them for the warning. The two of them then swore an oath not to betray her plans to anyone and promised to watch over the others (Ron, Horatio, Ginny, Luna, and Neville) for her while she was gone. The two of them also wished her good luck and let her know that the Trace on all underage magicals could not track her or any magic she performed once she was fifty feet out from the shore.

Supplies set, Azalea changed into a set of her new clothes before she headed to Kings Cross Station on foot in order to catch a train down to Portsmouth; the fifteen year old witch had no desire to take the Knight Bus a second time in one night. She made only one stop on the way to the train station, and that was to buy a black leather fedora that had caught her attention as she walked passed a hat store. A glance in the mirror on her way out of the store had Azalea thinking that all she needed was a pair of pistols slung around her waist and she'd look like a cowboy straight out of the American Old West or an Indiana Jones look-a-like if she had a whip and stood eight or ten inches taller.

She was wearing a pair of tan canvas pants, a black t-shirt under a red cotton dress shirt with the top three buttons undone (her undersized breasts bound flat with tightly wrapped bandages in order to hide them), and her new boots. She wore her new dragon-hide cloak unbuttoned overtop of that and the way it hung down to the middle of her calves and framed her slender frame made it look more like an old fashioned leather trench coat. The sleeves of the cloak were extra long so that they easily covered the back of both hands and therefore hid the scars on the back of her right hand from sight.

Lastly, the hat helped hide both her hair (which was cut short because her aunt couldn't stand the fact that Azalea's hair was thick and luxuriant while Dahlia's was thin and stringy) and her scar in addition to shading her eyes and making it harder to see what color they were. All it all, her new outfit made her look distinctly male and far older than she was despite the fact that she was still so short.

Chuckling to herself over her silent comparisons to one of television's greatest action heroes, Azalea hurried on her way to the train station and soon found herself ensconced on a passenger train headed south to Hampshire and ultimately, Portsmouth. In her pocket was the boarding pass that she prayed would set her on the path to finding the skills she knew she would need in order to defeat Voldemort once and for all.

Several hours later, Azalea was walking through the darkened ship yard looking for the dock listed on the boarding pass in her hand; hoping and praying that this hadn't just been one huge joke by the Dursleys in an effort to make her look like a buffoon. She was beginning to grow frustrated when she finally found her ship. As she stared up at the ancient looking wooden vessel, she wondered if it would really carry her to the location of the Hunter's Exam or if it would sink half way there. Azalea tilted her head to one side as she reconsidered her first impression of the ship; her mind recalling the slightly decrepit state of the Durmstrang's ship during her fourth year (though that ship had had magic to offset it's unseaworthy appearance).

Seeing that the gang plank had been withdrawn for the night (it was well after midnight after all), Azalea settled herself on top of a few shipping crates that were stacked on the dock beside the ship and, after carefully scanning the area to make certain that there was no one watching her, she pulled her invisibility cloak over her in order to prevent anyone from noticing her. She then closed her eyes to get a few hours of rest while she waited for the sun to rise.

It was the sound of a heavy wooden gang plank slamming down onto the dock that woke Azalea early the next morning and the teenaged witch nearly fell off her temporary perch into the water when she jerked upright. She took a moment to calm her racing heart before she glanced upwards to see an old man with the bulbous red nose of a career alcoholic, a white bristle beard and mustache that covered half of his face, and a pipe with a smoking cigarette stuffed in the bowl in one hand. The man was wearing gray pants, a red vest trimmed with black and white checkers over a white canvas shirt with a bronze stripe around the neckline, and a captain's hat.

Azalea studied him for a minute longer before she slipped off to an out of the way corner of the dock to remove her invisibility cloak where no one would see her appearing out of thin air. She then boldly walked up to the gang plank and fished her second hand boarding pass out of her pocket as she walked right up to the man that she assumed was the captain of the ship. Trying not to show her nervousness, Azalea waited patiently as the man scrutinized both her and the boarding pass before giving her permission to board the ship. Azalea politely thanked the man and made her way onto the deck.

The teen spent another two hours curiously exploring the ship while doing her best not to get in the way of the crew; this was her first time on a ship (the row boats she'd ridden in on a couple of occasions didn't count). During that time, another twelve people bound for the Hunter's Exam boarded the ship and Azalea studied them from the corner of her eye. They were her competition, after all, and they were potential obstacles in the path of her goal; to become a Hunter so that she could find the strength to destroy Voldemort.

Just before they set sail, one of the other passengers asked the captain where they were headed and how long it would take them to get there. The captain had laughingly replied that their destination was everywhere and nowhere and that it would take months to get there. The ornery old seaman then warned them that it was not to late to abandon ship if the unknown frightened them.

Azalea clenched her jaw tightly and pressed her lips tightly together as she stared out at the open sea while the crew laughed and jeered at the other now nervous passengers. She wouldn't give up; not now, not ever, and not for any reason.

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**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	2. Storms x and x Saviors

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Two: Storms x and x Saviors

The captain had not lied when he said that their destination was everywhere; they'd docked at various ports all over the world picking up more passengers and dropping off those that lost their nerve (or their patience). Hedwig had found her on her second day out to sea and she'd sent her off with a message for the Order to let them know she was safe and that she'd left her relatives' house of her own free will. Just before she sent her off, she told the snowy owl that she was free to stay at the Burrow or at Hogwarts until Azalea returned or that she could return to her if she wanted to stay with Azalea. Hedwig returned to her side a week and a half later and rarely ever left her shoulder as the ship steadily plowed through the water on its way to its next destination.

They'd been traveling around the world to gather those interested in taking the Hunter's Exam for a little over six months when the captain announced that they were getting close to their final destination. In fact, there were only two more scheduled stops before they arrived at their final destination; one to pick up the last of the prospective entrants before they headed to the island where the exam was being held this year and one to drop off those that would not be taking the exam. It was good news for Azalea.

She'd been growing antsy ever since September first had come and gone; the guilt she felt over abandoning her friends hitting her hard the moment she realized that the Hogwarts Express had left Kings Cross Station without her.

She'd buried herself in the books she'd brought with her (their covers and titles carefully hidden beneath homemade parchment book covers) in order to not think about those she'd left behind and to train herself as best she could while trapped on a boat with dozens of unruly and highly suspicious muggles (most of whom were male). When she wasn't working on increasing her repertoire of spells, Azalea was either helping the crew tend to various tasks or perched up in the crow's nest of the ship staring out over the ocean while Hedwig either sat on her shoulder or hovered nearby to stretch her wings.

A few of the other exam hopefuls had tried to intimidate her (thinking her an easy target because she was so short) but they soon gave up when all they got from her was a blank look; few of the applicants were anywhere near as intimidating as any of the Death Eaters that Azalea had faced. Those that didn't get the hint were introduced to the business end of her wand and promptly made to forget all about her the moment she finished wiping the floor with them; though she left them with the remembered pain of a Stinging Hex or ten.

On the eighteenth of December, the ship docked at Whale Island (the final port of call where they'd be taking on additional passengers) and Azalea couldn't help but admire the beauty of the small island; an island that she'd never before heard of until a week earlier. It was that same day that Azalea first saw the kid that would soon drag her onto the path that would have a large impact on her life and her future; though she didn't know that yet.

The kid had bounded onto the boat with blatant enthusiasm as he waved to those down on the docks and loudly swore that he'd pass the Hunter's Exam and become the best Hunter ever as they left the island behind. Most of the adults on board that were looking to enter the exam scoffed at that but the gutsy kid wasn't in the least bit fazed as he turned his eyes on those that were lounging around the deck. He soon forgot those that were trying to intimidate him as he rushed to aide a deck hand that had spilled a crate of apples; making a friend in the process.

As she watched the boy toss apples into the crate, Azalea took a moment to study the kid; taking in his long spiked green and black hair and intelligent brown eyes that burned with open determination. He was wearing green shorts, a white undershirt, and a green jacket with dark green and orange accents while on his back he carried a brown and tan rucksack with a fishing pole strapped to the side of the pack. He didn't really look like anyone special but Azalea could sense there was more to the boy than meets the eye but before she could allow her curiosity to take hold of her, she ruthlessly shoved it aside so that she would not lose track of her goals; become a Hunter, grow stronger, and defeat Voldemort.

The kid surprised Azalea a few minutes later when he proclaimed a terrible storm brewing; informing the captain that the seagulls were crying about the storm and that he could smell the storm and Azalea had little trouble believing him due to Hedwig growing antsy (the white owl in no way fond of sea storms). When the storm finally did hit, it hit hard and fast; leaving the bulk of the passengers seasick and Azalea silently helped the crew tend to the seasick passengers alongside of the kid while Hedwig clung to the rafters in the hold.

After the first few days, when there was a small lull in the storm, the captain called a small group of them up to the helm of the ship to speak with them; Azalea and the kid were both included in this group as was a blond haired teen and a tall man that Azalea thought was probably in his mid to late twenties. Azalea sighed and shoved her hands into her pockets of her dueling cloak as she fell into place beside the tall man at the end of the short line, silently grumbling about her lack of height as she was right about the same height as the kid and that was only if you discounted the kid's spiky hair.

"First, tell me your names," the captain ordered the moment they were all lined up.

"I'm Gon!" the kid proclaimed as he waved his arm in the air.

"Leorio," the tall man stated.

"Kurapika," was the blond's response.

Azalea said nothing since the captain already knew her name (or at least the man knew the name Azalea had given him months earlier). The other three individuals weren't aware of that fact though and they turned to face her expectantly as they waited for her to introduce herself. The moment it was clear that she wasn't going to speak up, Leorio opened his mouth to ask her for her name but the captain began speaking once more before he got the chance.

"Why do you want to become Hunters?" the captain demanded.

Leorio immediately refused to answer while Kurapika stated his reasons were far too personal; Gon on the other hand promptly declared that his father was a Hunter and that he desired to find him. Azalea didn't even get a chance to answer due to Leorio badgering the kid for answering the question. The captain quickly put a stop to the ruckus as he told one of his crew members to inform the examination board that there were three more drop outs (Azalea being disqualified by default since she hadn't had the chance to speak up over the tall man's rant). Leorio protested once more and the captain revealed that he was allowed to weed out the unfit in order to save the examiners the trouble of dealing with the trash.

That sobered up the loud mouthed man and Gon quickly rubbed it in the man's face while Kurapika reluctantly revealed that he was looking to avenge his family and needed the resources that were available to Hunters in order to hunt down those responsible. Leorio picked a bit of a fight with Kurapika over his reasons for wanting to become a Hunter but his attention was quickly diverted by Gon asking him why he wanted to become a hunter. When the man admitted that he was simply in it for the money, Azalea couldn't help but let out a soft snort of disgust as it sounded much like Dahlia's reason for wishing to become a Hunter.

"And you? Why do you want to be a Hunter?" Gon inquired as dashed around Leorio in order to stand in front of Azalea.

"I don't have a choice," Azalea murmured after a moment as the sound of Trelawney's raspy voice delivering her doom rang in her ears while the visage of Voldemort filled her mind's eye. Shoving the prophecy and the dark lord out of her mind, she clenched her jaw in anger as she added, "Fate and a madman marked my path long before I was born and failure is not an option I am willing to accept because I refuse to allow the sacrifices of others to become meaningless."

An awkward silence fell over the room as the captain scrutinized Azalea once again while the other three Hunter hopefuls each took the time to assess her for themselves. Out of the three of them, only Kurapika seemed to understand what she had left unspoken in regards to her reason for seeking to become a Hunter; the blond's reasons were not all that different from Azalea's, after all, even if she'd not given them any details. Leorio scoffed after a few minutes and made light of Azalea's response which for some reason irritated Kurapika (who'd already been irritated with Leorio) and the two of them stormed outside to settle their differences while Azalea just shook her head in bemusement; she didn't care what the others thought of her reasons.

"Hey, hey, who are you?" Gon inquired as he tugged on Azalea's cloak to get the witch's attention.

"Me? I'm nobody important," Azalea quipped with a humorless grin as she turned to leave the room.

Gon opened his mouth to reply but whatever he was going to say was cut off by a yell from the sailor manning the helm as a waterspout began forming on the sea in front of them; the storm had turned deadly once more. The captain was quick to hand out a bevy of orders and the crew began rushing about in a desperate attempt to bring the sails down. Gon didn't hesitate to offer his help and Azalea silently followed suit; the witch having learned enough about sailing during the months she'd been on the ship to lend a hand. She caught a brief glimpse of Kurapika and Leorio facing off against one another on the deck before she focused her attention entirely on hauling in the sails.

The wind tore at the sails and water washed over the deck as the ship was tossed about like a cork in a punch bowl and Azalea constantly fired weak wandless sticking charms on the feet of the sailors around her to prevent them from being swept over board. She couldn't reach all of the sailors though and the clumsy crewman that Gon had befriended during the short amount of time he was on the ship was sent overboard by a wave of water as the rope was torn from his hands. Azalea cursed under her breath as she turned her head sideways in time to see the deck hand sailing over the side of the ship with Gon diving head first after him.

Pulling out her wand, Azalea fired two sticking charms at Kurapika and Leorio (both of whom had tried to save the deck hand) and used a levitation charm catch hold of the sailor to prevent him from hitting the water while Gon grabbed hold of the deck hand's arms. Azalea felt her shoulders sag as she watched Kurapika and Leorio grab hold of Gon's ankles and drag both the kid and the deck hand back onto the deck of the ship. Canceling her spells once the four of them were safe, Azalea slipped her wand back into her shirt sleeve and casually glanced around to make certain that no one had seen her using it; unaware that the captain had witnessed the entire thing from the helm.

The storm petered out just a few hours after that and while the crew went about cleaning up the deck and repairing the worst of the damage that had been done by the storm, Azalea discreetly watched Kurapika and Leorio lecture Gon about his reckless behavior. Azalea chuckled under her breath because the scene brought to mind the many lectures that Horatio had given her about her own reckless behavior. She then heard the deck hand they'd saved thank Gon for saving his life and Gon unhesitatingly gave an equal share of the credit to the other two entrants and Azalea smiled briefly over the knowledge that the part she'd played had remained unnoticed; the witch grateful that her involvement had been unremarked upon.

_The kid would have been a shoe-in for Gryffindor if he'd been born a wizard,_ Azalea silently mused as a wave of sadness filled her at the sharp reminder of her absent friends.

Turning her back on the trio, Azalea stared out over the ocean as Hedwig settled onto her shoulder once more now that there was no danger of her getting swept out to sea by the storm. The intelligent owl nuzzled her cheek affectionately; a silent offer of comfort as if Hedwig knew exactly what was bothering her. She had no idea how long she'd been standing there when the captain appeared on the deck and announced that he was delivering the four of them to the island where the test was being held. Apparently, all four of them had passed whatever test it was that he'd been giving them.

Azalea got the sneaking suspicion that the man knew more than he was letting on when he shot Azalea a knowing look before disappearing back into his cabin. It made the witch wonder if she had actually been caught using her wand to help save the sailor that had gone overboard. If that was the case, she hoped that the man wouldn't pass that knowledge along to the Hunter Examination Board; she didn't want to be disqualified outright on the grounds that she was a witch or worse, killed as she recalled Fred and George's insistence that Hunters hunted magicals.

Unsettled, Azalea made her way up to the crow's nest where she would spend the rest of the trip avoiding the other passengers and the majority of the crew. There were a few times when Gon joined her up there and while Azalea did her best to ignore the chatty child, she didn't chase him off; the kid's happy chatter reminding her of happier days. Azalea sometimes felt guilty for ignoring the kid but she wasn't taking the Hunter Exam to make friends; she had a duty to perform and anything else came second.

Azalea often suspected that Gon took her aloofness as a challenge and the triumphant grin the kid gave each time he drew a response from Azalea only seemed to reinforce that impression. He'd been especially happy when she finally, grudgingly, gave him the alias she'd chosen to use.

Their first stop after the storm was to drop off those that had not made the captain's cut and to purchase supplies that would see them to their final destination. While they were in port, Azalea mailed off a several letters to let those back home know that she was alright and that she was still training hard; something she'd done at each stop they'd made along the way. She had not received any replies in return but that was not unexpected due to the fact that it would be difficult for any owls to find her out at sea and she hadn't really stayed in one place since the night she'd left. In the letter she sent to the twins, she let the pair know that she'd passed the preliminary exam alongside three others (out of the seventy-some entrants that had been on board the ship at the time) and that she didn't know when she'd next be able to write.

December thirtieth saw the ship docking at Dolle Harbor, the closest port to the exam site, and the captain wished all four of them luck as they made their way off of the vessel. Azalea paused at the top of the gangplank in order to send Hedwig off to hunt. She then turned back to stare out over the ocean as she sent up one last prayer to the heavens that she hadn't made a huge mistake when she chose to abandon the wizarding world in favor of becoming a Hunter just so she could face the Dark Lord on more even footing. Shaking her head, knowing it was too late to turn back now; Azalea swung back around and made her way down to the dock.

"I owe you my thanks for protecting my crew during the storm," the captain quietly declared as Azalea stepped down off of the gangplank.

"Uh… I don't know what you're talking about," Azalea protested as she broke out in a cold sweat.

"Have it your way, lad, but you and I both know it takes more than will power to make shoes stick to a wet deck during a violent storm. You have your reasons for not drawing attention to yourself and I can respect that but I'd advise you to be extra careful during the exam; there are some that won't take kindly to discovering one of your kind here. Remember, very few Hunters are saints and the smallest mistake will mean death."

"I understand," Azalea replied after a moment. "And thank you, for everything."

Azalea glanced up at the ship that she'd lived on for the past six months one last time before she headed into the city in order to find out where she was supposed to go next. She hadn't gotten very far when she overheard a couple of exam hopefuls loudly discussing the bus that was supposed to take the entrants to Zaban City where the exam was to be held this year. Azalea frowned as she heard them joking about how the bus was actually a trap and that those that boarded the bus never made it to the test. She didn't know if the pair was just trying to scare any other entrants that overheard them or if they were telling the truth though.

Not wanting to take a chance that she'd never reach her destination, Azalea hunted for a map of the island so she could figure out which way she'd need to fly and how far she'd have to go to reach the city by broom instead. She was more than a little surprised to stumble upon her former fellow passengers arguing in front of the map. Azalea quickly decided that she'd come back later, not wanting to get involved with their argument, and had just turned around to walk away when she was spotted by Gon. The kid wasted no time in hollering out her alias and the next thing she knew the kid had her by the sleeve and was dragging her over to where the other two were standing in front of the map.

"Not that gloomy guy again," Leorio muttered as he scowled at Azalea. "I thought we'd seen the last of him once we stepped off the boat."

"James isn't gloomy! He's just shy. He's really funny too!" Gon insisted and Azalea bit back a sigh as she stuffed her hands in her pockets and glanced up at the map; part of her immensely thankful that her disguise was working like a charm. "So, what do you know about where we need to go? The captain told me to head to the cedar because it was a shortcut to the exam but Leorio insists we need to head to Zaban City."

"There is a bus heading to Zaban City and if we don't hurry we'll miss it," Leorio pointed out. "Heading to the cedar would take us miles out of our way."

"The bus is a potential trap; those that climb on it supposedly never reach the city," Azalea stated as she frowned at the map and noted the location of the cedar when compared to their supposed destination. "The cedar does seem like it is out of the way but the captain is an honest man."

"Come on then!" Gon insisted as he grabbed hold of Azalea's sleeve once more and began dragging her off in the direction of the cedar, leaving the other two to follow along or go their own way.

"Any particular reason why you feel the need to drag me along?" Azalea asked after ten minutes had passed and Gon still showed no signs of releasing her.

"Oh, sorry, I just wanted to make sure you didn't get left behind since you always seem to be the last one to arrive for everything," Gon cheerfully apologized as he let go of Azalea's sleeve and dropped back so he was walking beside the witch. "I suppose I should have asked you if you wanted to come with me but it looked like you weren't sure of where you wanted to go anyway so I just thought you'd like to have the company."

"Hmm," Azalea hummed in response, unsure how to reply without hurting the kid's feelings since Azalea actually would have preferred to have been left on her own. There was less of a chance that someone else would get hurt because of something she did that way and she could have used magic to make her way to Zaban City. It also would be much easier maintaining her gender-swapping ruse if she wasn't constantly in the company of the same group of individuals.

"See! What did I tell you? Mr. Doom and Gloom! Barely says five words unless he is forced into it and even then half of what he says is a dire proclamation," Leorio declared as he and Kurapika caught up to the pair of them.

"You sound like a petulant toddler who has just been told that it's naptime," Azalea drawled as she pulled her hat down lower to shade her eyes. Kurapika and Gon both laughed while Leorio spluttered indignantly over the insult. Azalea then stopped walking and glanced up at the taller man and quietly stated, "Maybe it would be best if I leave; I don't want to create tension amongst the three of you when it seems like you all get along fairly well while it is obvious that I'm not exactly wanted."

"Don't go, James; we all want you to stay, don't we?" Gon demanded as he latched onto Azalea's sleeve again while staring intently up at Leorio with a determined glare.

"But… bu… he's… alright, fine, we don't mind you tagging along," Leorio muttered as he crossed his arms and turned away from Gon's intense gaze. "I was just blowing steam anyway."

"It is safer to travel in a group," Kurapika added with a shrug.

"See, let's hurry now; we don't want to be late and miss our chance!"

Azalea sighed and resigned herself to being dragged along again as Gon once more forgot to let go of her sleeve and as she trotted alongside the enthusiastic kid, Azalea wondered if this was how Horatio had felt each time she and Ron had dragged him off on another adventure. Guilt weighed down on Azalea but she didn't let it break her resolve; she needed to be stronger if she ever hoped to face Voldemort on equal footing.

They'd been walking for a couple of hours when Gon broke the silence once more, "Say, where'd your pretty little owl go? I haven't seen her since we got to the island."

"Hedwig? She's off hunting."

"Why did you bring an owl with you, if you don't mind me asking?" Kurapika inquired as he fell into step beside Azalea, the blond's curiosity easily apparent.

"She refused to be left behind."

"She told me that she considers you her chick. She also said that she didn't trust you to take care of yourself because you always get into too much trouble when she's not around to watch over you," Gon declared as he let go of Azalea's sleeve and dashed forward so he could turn around and face Azalea as he walked backwards in order to better see Azalea's face as they walked.

Azalea blinked at the smiling twelve year old; uncertain of what to make of his declaration regarding Hedwig and the way the snowy owl sees her (the witch easily accepting that the kid could understand owls because of her ability to understand snakes). After a minute, Azalea gave the kid a small smile in return before she glanced upwards to search the sky for any sign of her owl as she murmured, "She's been a friend and a confidant for five years now. Hearing she thinks of me as her offspring isn't all that surprising; she's always mothered me every chance she got."

Gon laughed and smiled even wider and Azalea practically groaned when she realized that she'd just lost another point to the stubborn kid in the battle of wills they been engaging in from the moment the captain had called the four of them together to determine if they had earned the chance to take the exam. Azalea feared that she was steadily losing the battle of wills to keep the friendly little bugger at arms length. It didn't help that Gon was bound and determined to draw her out as well as keep her as part of their group.

At least she wouldn't have to worry about being bored throughout any portion of the Hunter Exam if Gon stuck to her side; the kid sure kept things interesting.

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**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	3. Trials x and x Tribulation

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Three: Trials x and x Tribulation

They walked for another hour before they reached the town through which they needed travel to reach the cedar. Azalea felt uneasy from the moment they'd entered the town as she could feel eyes watching her despite the fact that the town appeared to be deserted. They'd just turned down yet another narrow street when Leorio stopped to complain about how creepy and empty the place felt and Gon was quick to correct his assumption that the town was deserted.

Leorio was just about to start another argument when a pair of doors to one side of them split open and disgorged a troop of individuals wearing long white robs and strange masks. Two of them pulled a strange cart on which sat an old woman while the rest of the robed people carried instruments and a raven. It took them but a moment to block off the small street and Azalea took two steps backwards and twisted to the side as she slipped her wand out of her sleeve and held it ready just out of sight as she kept watch on their back trail in case this was a trap.

The old woman cackled as she caught sight of her defensive stance and Azalea felt a spike of rage as the sound sharply reminded her of Bellatrix's insane laughter the night the woman had killed Sirius. She let out a hissing growl that startled Kurapika, who'd been standing closest to her, and let her eyes search the entire street (including the rooftops) for any sign of potential attackers.

"Exciting!" the old woman crowed and Azalea froze before slowly turning her head to the side just enough that she could peer at the woman with one eye while she kept an eye on their street behind them with her other eye.

"Exciting?" Leorio parroted back in confusion.

Twice more the woman and Leorio repeated the same word and Azalea was barely suppressing the urge to hex them both until their ears bled, if only to get them to shut up. Finally, the woman seemed to get to the point; in order to pass, they had to answer her question correctly. It was basically just another preliminary test in order to see if they were worthy of taking the actual exam and Azalea was getting frustrated with all of the delays; she'd been waiting for over six months to take the stupid Exam already. Before the old woman could relay the question they were to answer, a man stepped out of the shadows from behind them and Azalea, already on edge, hit him with a silent Full Body-Bind Curse and dropped him like a rock.

"Wow! I didn't even see you move, James! That was so cool, how did you do that? Did you know that he was following us all this time as well?" Gon asked in rapid fire succession as he bounded over to the man now lying prone on his back to toe him with one foot then leaned down to poke him in the cheek with a finger several times before he darted back to Azalea's side. "Amazing! He's still awake but he's solid as a rock and unable to move a muscle! What did you do to him? Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Sorry, old family secret," Azalea replied as she discreetly tucked her wand back up into her sleeve and glanced up at the old woman that was now watching her closely.

"Are the four of you ready to take your quiz now?" the old woman demanded as she glanced away from Azalea to study the other three individuals; all of them nodded with varying degrees of nervousness. "Good. There is only one question and only one correct answer. The answer will be either the number one or the number two; any other answers will be considered incorrect and you will be disqualified."

"What!?" Leorio bellowed and Azalea couldn't help but think the man was going to give himself a heart attack if he kept getting stressed out by every little thing.

While Leorio complained about the unfairness of all four of them having to rely upon only one of them answering their single question, since a wrong answer by one person would see them all disqualified, Azalea approached the man she'd knocked down and knelt beside him. A quick check showed that no one was paying her any attention at the moment, and Azalea used the opportunity given to knock the man out cold with a point blank Stunning Spell. She then wiped his memory of the last twenty minutes; the memory spell something she'd practiced extensively during the past six months whenever one of the other entrants had gotten a bit pushy during the voyage and she'd been forced to defend herself using her magic or suffer a beating (or worse if they discovered her true gender).

Azalea then returned to the others just in time to hear the woman's question, "Evil villains have captured your wife and son. You can only save one. Select one for your wife or two for your son. Which one will you save? You have five seconds in which to answer."

"The answer is number one," Azalea replied making the others jump since they'd pretty much forgotten that she was there because she'd not spoken up during the earlier argument.

"Really? Why?" the woman asked with a small smirk.

"Never play by the villain's rules; you will fail because their rules are meant to make you fail. Besides, you addressed the question to all four of us and two of us could easily rescue the first person while the other two rescued the second," Azalea stated simply as she jerked her thumb in the direction of the other three applicants.

"That was not the answer I was looking for nor was it the answer that I was expecting," the woman stated as she propped her chin on her interlaced fingers and gazed intently at Azalea for a long minute, a measure of respect filling her eyes. "It is also not an answer most people would immediately consider regardless of how large or small of a group they are in."

"So… uh, did we pass or fail?" Leorio asked in confusion as he glanced between the hag and Azalea.

"You… Pass!"

"What!? But there is no right answer!" Kurapika protested. "Giving any answer should have disqualified us…"

"You are correct in that the quiz was designed to have no true correct answer because how do you place one life above another? But your trigger happy friend here was also correct in that the enemy will always work against you and that there is strength in numbers. The four of you entered my quiz as a group and he took that into consideration before he gave his answer and in doing so, he found a way to get around the limitations of the situation. You will not always find yourselves in situations where the right answers are easy to see; you will need to learn to rely upon your instincts or the instincts of your friends, if you plan to stick together. That is the way of the world… and of a Hunter."

The doors that the woman and her entourage had poured forth from were reopened at that point by two of the masked individuals and the woman gestured towards the long tunnel revealed on the other side of the doors as she stated, "This tunnel will take you directly to the old cedar; it will take you two hours to reach the top and there you will find a couple living beneath the tree. They serve as navigators and will guide you to the exam; if they find you worthy."

Gon was the first one to dart off into the tunnel, calling out a fond farewell while Kurapika and Leorio followed behind him at a more sedate pace. Azalea hesitated a moment before she trailed after them, only to stop and turn back when the old woman called out to her.

"There was a valuable lesson to be learned in the quiz and you figured out one of the few true answers and displayed wisdom beyond your age. Do not lose sight of that wisdom as you continue on your quest least you fall and leave the rest of the world to shoulder the consequences of that failure. It is not a shortcoming to admit that you can not do it alone."

"Who are you and how did you know…?"

"I am just an old woman who spends her time reading people and any one with a pair of eyes and a working brain can see the burden you bear on your shoulders. Go. Beat them at their own game. Come see me again when you have earned your license and finished your personal quest if you still wish to talk to an old woman."

The witch stared at her for another minute before she was pulled from her confusion by the sound of Gon loudly calling her alias. Azalea nodded politely (if a little stiffly) to the old woman before she slipped into the tunnel after the others; her thoughts scattering off in a hundred directions as she trotted onwards towards the next trial. As she caught up to the others, Azalea pushed the woman's words about not facing her burdens alone to the back of her mind as she recalled what always happened to those that got dragged into her messes with her as she once again saw her godfather falling through the veil, her friends falling one by one to Death Eater curses, and Cedric dying in a flash of green light.

No matter how much easier it would be to share her burden with another, she couldn't and wouldn't allow others to help her least they be harmed because she was too weak.

The frown on her face must have worried Gon as the younger boy dashed back around the others so that he could once again walk backwards in front of Azalea, "Is there something wrong?"

The delinquent witch (she was skiving off of school, after all) simply shook her head no in response as she focused her attention on the dark tunnel through which they were traveling. She missed seeing the brief hurt look and stubborn pout that flashed across Gon's face before it was replaced with determination or she would have felt a small measure of guilt over snubbing the younger boy. As it was, Azalea was too busy brooding to notice until she interrupted by the return of Hedwig as the owl flew up from behind her, dropped down to steal her hat, and took off towards the end of the tunnel as fast as she could fly.

"Hedwig!" Azalea cried as she immediately gave chase to the fast disappearing owl.

"Oy, wait up for the rest of us! Not you too, Gon! What, Kurapika; you as well!?" Leorio cried indignantly as Gon and Kurapika both quickly caught up to Azalea.

Azalea ignored the two running beside her as she focused completely on Hedwig's pale form. She was actually far more worried than she was angry since the owl normally wouldn't have taken off with her hat out of the blue like that unless there was a reason she needed her to follow her. Six minutes later, the three of them burst out of the tunnel and Azalea paused just long enough to locate Hedwig's form in the fading afternoon light before she was off and running again; jumping over or dodging around the various obstacles that sprang up in her path instinctively (much like she had when she was younger and running from Dahlia and the local gang of bullies when they were in the mood for a round of 'Harriet Hunting').

They didn't actually catch up to Hedwig until they reached the end of the trail just as the sun was beginning to set and Azalea slowed to a walk as she approached the sign where the snowy owl was perched; it read 'Beware of Magical Beasts' and Azalea tensed as she carefully approached. Hedwig barked at her once before she spun her head around to glare up towards the house that was sitting beneath just a few meters up the trail. As she stopped beneath her familiar's perch and leaned down to pick up her hat, she let her eyes search the growing shadows as a sense of uneasiness filled her along with the uncomfortable feeling that she was once again being watched (her heart wildly pounding in fear over the use of the word 'magical' on the sign).

"That was unexpectedly fun," Gon declared as he bounded up to Azalea's side; his eyes shining brightly in the setting sun as he flashed a grin at Azalea. "Does she always play games like that?"

"No, she wasn't playing," Azalea countered softly as she dusted her hat off and settled it back on her head.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" Leorio complained as he staggered up to them sweating and panting like crazy.

"Not our fault that you're out of shape, old man," Azalea quipped back as she briefly glanced at the taller man before she returned to her attention to the deceptively empty house.

"Oy! Who are you calling old, midget! I'll have you know I'm still a teenager. At least I'm out of diapers; how old are you anyway? Eight? Nine?"

"Sixteen," Azalea quietly corrected as she scowled at Leorio for a moment; her lack of height a rather sore subject since it was something she'd been picked on about all of her life and a direct result of her less than pleasant life with the Dursleys. Sure, they never abused her outright but they also hadn't really fed her properly and living inside of a rather cramped closet for ten years hadn't exactly done her any favors.

"Really?" Kurapika exclaimed with some surprise. "Up until your owl stole your hat earlier, I would have said you were in your early to mid twenties because of how you carry yourself and after that I thought that you were maybe fourteen at most but likely a year or two younger."

"Yes," Azalea replied with a shrug as she stuffed her hands in her pocket and headed towards the house sitting beneath the giant cedar; the others quickly falling into step behind her as Hedwig launched into the air and circled the four of them for a moment before settling down onto her left shoulder. "I've always been short and scrawny for my age. As for the rest…? I had to grow up really fast."

"I can relate."

Azalea nodded; recalling the reason the blond had given for wanting to become a Hunter. In that sense, Azalea had a lot more in common with the blond than she would have originally thought and it made it easier in some ways to relate to the other teen. Unlike Ron, Horatio, and Ginny, Kurapika could understand what it felt like to be an orphan, to have lost everything because of a group of evil men that would stop at nothing to get what they wanted.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Leorio called out as he knocked on the door as the four of them came to a stop on the front porch of the house that was built against the towering tree.

"Something isn't right," Azalea muttered as the taller teen rattled the handle and the door swung open with an eerie creak. "You guys check inside, I'm going to take a look around out here."

"Be careful, James," Gon urged as he followed the other two inside.

Azalea waved off the boy's concerns and dug into her book bag to grab her invisibility cloak as Hedwig took to the air once more. Seconds later, she was ghosting along unseen outside of the house looking for signs of an attack or an ambush. She heard a scream and several yells followed by the sound of crashing glass and she dashed around to the back of the house where the commotion had originated in time to see a golden blur take off into the trees with Kurapika and Gon both in hot pursuit. A glance inside of the broken window revealed Leorio tending to a bleeding man lying on the floor.

Pressing her lips together, Azalea used her wand to search the immediate area for any sign that there was anyone or anything else lying in weight to ambush them. She was confused when the detection spell told her that there was only one human present aside from herself and it took her a full minute to realize that that meant that Leorio was in the house alone with another of the strange creatures that had taken off into the forest. Cursing under her breath, Azalea slipped in through the broken window and crept up to where Leorio was treating the impostor.

The moment she got within a few feet of the pair, the creature wearing a human's face stiffened and glanced in her direction and Azalea knew it had somehow sensed or possibly heard her. Removing her invisibility cloak in the blink of an eye with a practiced swipe of her left hand, Azalea held her wand like a knife and jabbed it under the chin of the impostor and hissed out a tight, "Don't move a single muscle or I will give you a personalized invitation to join the headless hunt."

"Ahh!" Leorio cried out in shock as the taller man sprang backwards at the unexpected appearance of the green eyed teen. The moment he realized that she was threatening the man he'd just been treating had him quickly recovering his aplomb as he demanded, "What are you doing, James!? Why are you threatening my patient?"

"He's not human, Leorio," Azalea explained as she kept her focus on the man on the floor. "His wounds are superficial; if he'd really been attacked by the creature I saw fleeing into the woods out the back, he'd have been far more seriously injured. Since there are no other humans within a twenty mile radius that leaves two possible scenarios; either this being is part of the test the navigators are giving us to see if we are worthy of their services or the navigators were themselves killed by this being and others like him."

"How do I know you aren't the impostor trying to trick me?" Leorio demanded shrewdly as he glanced between Azalea and the suddenly nervous man on the floor.

"Simple, I knew you by name and your name has been the only one not mentioned since we left Dolle Harbor; meaning no one could have overheard your name to address you as such."

"Ah ha… I guess that is you, Mr. Doom and Gloom."

"And that means our friend here has a lot of explaining to do, isn't that right?" Azalea declared as she gave the victim turned captive a feral grin.

Twenty minutes later, the four would be Hunters were standing outside of the house with the four magical creatures as they introduced themselves and explained that they were the navigators that they had been sent to find. Three of the Kiriko then gave a short verbal assessment for each of them (with the one that had posed as the injured husband giving an assessment for both Azalea and Leorio). Kurapika passed because of his vast knowledge of obscure facts, Gon passed because of his superhuman physical ability and his powers of observation, Leorio passed because of the skill and care with which he treated the 'injured husband' and his kindness, and Azalea passed because of her use of logic and quick thinking in determining the truth of the situation.

When it came time for them to be taken to the exam's location there was a bit of an issue since Leorio was too heavy for just one of the Kiriko to carry and there were only four of them. Azalea solved the problem by telling them she would follow along behind them under her own power; much to the confusion of everyone else. She watched the group take off first, the Kiriko unfolding wing-like membranes from beneath their arms as they took to the air, before she pulled out her broom and cast a disillusionment charm over both the broom and herself (her cloak too hard to keep pulled over her body while flying). In no time at all, she'd caught up with the family of four and her three fellow Hunter hopefuls, though only the four Kiriko were able to sense her presence (they had all glanced back in her direction the moment she caught up).

They landed on the outskirts of Zaban City a few hours later and three of the Kiriko left right away after bidding the quartet farewell while the fourth remained to guide them the rest of the way to their destination. Azalea dropped the disillusionment charm she was wearing the moment she touched down beside Leorio but left her broom covered in the spell (in case she needed to use the broom again in the presence of muggles) and tucked the Firebolt back into her book bag to free up her hands. Her three short-term companions all jumped in shock at her sudden reappearance and Azalea couldn't resist snickering silently to herself at the looks on their faces.

"Would you quit doing that!?" Leorio exclaimed as he clutched at his heart.

"Were you just invisible? How did you do that!?" Gon eagerly asked as he bounced on his toes. "And how did you get here so fast? Did you really fly? Is that another family secret or can you teach someone else how to do it too?"

"Sorry, old family secret," Azalea replied with some embarrassment as she prayed that the Ministry of Magic wouldn't lock her up due to how many times she'd used magic in front of muggles over the past six months. Then again, Fred and George might have been telling the truth when they informed her that the Ministry of Magic couldn't track magic outside of Britain (she'd not received any owls about underage magic, after all); something that made her life much easier.

"No fair!"

Azalea just shrugged and tried not to notice the pout on Gon's face. Kurapika gave her a calculating look that was filled with traces of both curiosity and suspicion but he at least said nothing. Leorio, on the other hand, was far too busy muttering a steady stream of verbal complaints under his breath about punk teens trying to give him a heart attack to question her little tricks.

"Come on, we still have a ways to go," their navigator advised as he began heading into the city.

"We should stop and grab something to eat," Kurapika suggested to the others as they all hurried after their guide. "We don't know when we'll have another opportunity to buy food."

Azalea shrugged her shoulders as it didn't matter to her either way; she could always fix herself something later since she hadn't touched her supplies yet (her meals had been provided by the ship's crew during the long months they'd been sailing). Once inside of the town, they moved fairly quickly through the mostly empty streets until they reached a small family run café that was still open where they ordered supper. As they ate, their guide regaled them with rumors, stories, and facts about Zaban City.

All too soon, they were on the move again after a brief debate on whether they should find a place to crash for the rest of the night or push on towards their destination. They all agreed to push on since they didn't know if there was a deadline for entrants to arrive at the testing sight. It took them another three hours to reach the place where everyone was gathering and Azalea was the only one not surprised to learn that the gathering place was through a slightly run down looking restaurant.

She felt slightly nostalgic as the others stepped inside the place and she paused on the threshold to glance up at the sky; her thoughts automatically turning to the Leaky Cauldron, home, and her friends. Just before she entered, Hedwig swooped down and gracefully reclaimed her perch on her shoulder.

"Right on time as usual, beautiful," Azalea murmured as she reached into her pocket and fished out an owl treat for the owl.

"Hey, can't you read? The sign says no pets allowed!"

"I suppose it's a good thing my companion is not a pet then," Azalea retorted as she glanced disdainfully towards the woman that had just complained about Hedwig's presence.

By the time she returned her attention to their guide, the Kiriko had given the password to the chef behind the counter and signaled for the four of them to follow him towards the back room. Once they were inside, their guide said his farewells and offered to be their navigator the next year when they took the exams a second time; the young Kiriko obviously expecting them to fail (not because they weren't capable but because rookies only passed the test about once every three years). The moment the door closed, the room they were in gave a great lurch and began sinking; they'd actually been led to an elevator.

Hedwig gave a discontent hoot before settling down to nap on Azalea's shoulder as the witch dropped down into one of the chairs provided in order to get off her feet for a few minutes. Her rear had barely made contact with the chair before Leorio and Kurapika got into an argument over whether or not the most important reason for being a Hunter was to get rich or to make the world a better place. As the two of them argued back and forth across the table, Azalea caught a look of confused resignation on Gon's face; the poor kid half caught between the bickering pair. Thankfully, before the two older teens could demand that Gon or Azalea settle their fight, the elevator arrived at the bottom floor and the doors opened to reveal an underground room filled with hundreds of applicants.

Azalea suppressed a shiver as the subterranean chamber sharply reminded her of the Chamber of Secrets (only with far more people present and far less mold) and prayed she'd not have to face any giant snakes with deadly eyes and deadlier fangs; one basilisk per lifetime was more than enough, thank you very much.

Gon made only one attempt to greet the other applicants with a friendly hello before he gave up due to their cold demeanors and glares. Just seconds later, Kurapika noted that the applicants sharing the underground room with them were on a whole different level than the one's they'd met on the docks and in the city. Azalea silently wished that she'd donned her father's invisibility cloak prior to stepping out of the elevator as the rising level of tension filling the room made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"Welcome to the two hundred eighty-seventh Hunter's Examination, please take a number," a voice ordered and Azalea spun around to see a short green person holding out a round disk with the number three-fifty-four printed across it to Leorio. "Be sure to wear your badge on your chest at all times," the man (being?) instructed as he passed number three-fifty-five to Kurapika, three-fifty-six to Gon, and number three-fifty-seven to Azalea. "Please take care not to lose it."

"I haven't seen the four of you here before," a voice called down to them from up on the pipes that ran along the wall near the ceiling.

Azalea glanced up and immediately felt a shiver race down her back; the short fat man her eyes had landed on distinctly reminded her of Delores Umbridge. While the other three walked closer, Azalea held her ground and crossed her arms as she observed the deceptively friendly man; the witch mistrustful of his intentions due to the similarities between the man and one of her least favorite professors. Learning that this was the man's thirty-fifth attempt at taking the Hunter Exam only emphasized that the man was up to no good. The man introduced himself as Tonpa and Gon was quick to introduce himself and the others in return; surprisingly leaving out Azalea's alias (much to her relief) since she was standing off to one side of the others.

Before Tonpa could bring any attention to Azalea, Gon was asking the man if he knew if there were others present like him that had taken the exam several times. As the fat man pointed out the various veterans (providing names, strengths, weaknesses, and a quirk or two), Azalea took the time to observe the veteran applicant more closely. The witch took special note of the man's facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice as he introduced the other applicants. She also noted the way the man's eyes turned predatory each time he glanced at three he was supposedly helping.

_Just as I suspected, he's up to something,_ Azalea thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes and let her gaze drift to the other people in the room; noting the way a few small groups were whispering and laughing as they glanced towards the three that were listening avidly to Tonpa's droning. _There's definitely something up with that guy; somehow, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that he's actually related to Umbridge in some way._

When Azalea returned her gaze back to Tonpa and the three boys she'd been traveling with, it was to see Tonpa handing the three drinks from out of his bag. She pressed her lips together as she watched the four of them toast to good luck before Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika raised the cans to take a drink while Tonpa just smirked over the top of his unopened can. Needing to stop them without alerting Tonpa to the fact that she was onto him, Azalea flicked a wandless banishing charm at Leorio and pushed the taller man into Gon who in turn bumped into Kurapika. All three of them crashed to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs at that point while the drinks they'd been about to ingest crashed to the floor where their contents harmlessly spilled out onto the cement floor.

The look of shocked disbelief and frustration on Tonpa's face made Azalea smirk before she wiped the expression from her face. The witch then decided that it was time to intervene on a more visible level as she strode over and gave Gon a hand up.

"Are the three of you alright?" Azalea asked in a low voice as she gave Kurapika a hand up next while Gon helped Leorio.

"I'll end up with a bruise or two but otherwise I'm fine," Kurapika stated once he was one his feet.

"I'm just fine… only injured my pride," Leorio muttered as he brushed off the juice that had spilled all over his suit. "My fist would love to meet the jerk that shoved me though."

"I'm sorry to have wasted the juice you gave me," Gon contritely murmured as he glanced up at the still shocked Tonpa.

"I have bottled water if you are still thirsty," Azalea stated as she brought her book bag around and dug out several bottles of water and diligently handed a bottle to each of her travel companions and kept one for herself before she addressed the man she now silently referred to in her mind as Umbridge's brother. "Would you like one as well? Oh, never mind, I see your juice is still unopened; so at least you didn't spill yours too."

"Who the hell are you?" Tonpa demanded as he finally snapped out of his shock and confusion.

"Me?" Azalea asked in mock surprise. "I'm surprised you didn't already know since you seem to know so much about everyone else here."

"That doesn't tell me who you are."

"Don't worry, I'm nobody important," Azalea stated flatly as she pulled her fedora down low to throw half her face deeper into the shadows while the light that glinted off of her glasses made her look rather menacing.

Any reply Tonpa might have given was cut off by a cry from further in the room and all five of them turned to see a man's arms dissolving into flower petals. Standing a few feet away, watching the scene with a smirk, a man dressed like a harlequin patronizingly declared that it was wise to apologize when you bump into other people.

"It looks like that psychopath is back again," Tonpa declared with a trace of worry. "If you were smart the lot of you would do well to stay away from number forty-four; that's Hisoka, the magician."

Azalea tensed and took hold of her wand as she discreetly stepped behind Leorio to prevent the newly named Hisoka from catching sight of her. Needing to know whether or not the man was truly a wizard, the young witch not willing to rely upon appearances alone, Azalea crouched down and cast a spell directly at the floor. The spell was called the Wandering Wizard Ward as any magical (even a squib) that crossed over the area the spell was cast upon would leave behind glowing red footsteps that only the caster could see and it was typically used to track trespassers. Azalea spread the spell out far enough that everyone in the room would step on the affected area at least once.

She then tucked her wand back into her sleeve as she watched the floor intently. She quickly noted that none of those standing within ten feet of her had any magic; including Gon. The moment the man named Hisoka finally moved away from the man he'd attacked, Azalea's eyes tracked his footsteps for a full five minutes just to make certain that the man didn't leave behind a single glowing footprint; proof that the man was not a true wizard, he just had some magic-like tricks. Azalea then sagged back against Leorio in relief without realizing it as the anxiety she'd felt over hearing the man openly being called a magician fled with the knowledge that the man wasn't even a squib.

"Oy, Mr. Doom and Gloom, are you alright?" Leorio asked as he frowned over his shoulder at the unexpected, if slight, weight of Azalea collapsing against him.

"Just peachy, Mr. Loud and Obnoxious," Azalea replied as she sat down on the ground and pressed her face to her knees; ignoring the way the frames of her glasses cut into her cheeks and the bridge of her nose as a result.

"What happened to Tonpa?" Gon inquired as he glanced around and noticed the little fat man had disappeared.

"I suppose that he slunk off with his tail between his legs when he failed to poison the three of you with the juice he'd so nicely shared with you," Azalea muttered as she rolled her head to the side and half knocked both her glasses and hat from her head. "By the way, Leorio, I owe you an apology, I was the one that bumped into you earlier. I didn't feel right with just letting the three of you get sick from whatever nasty trick he was playing though."

"How can you be sure that he meant us harm?"

"You mean aside from the fact that he freely admitted he'd failed the Hunter's Exam thirty-four times, was friendly with a group of rookies, and the other veterans were sneaking glances and smirking in your direction the entire time he was talking to you? Call it a hunch; he reminded me far too much of a rather nasty toad that I had the misfortune of dealing with on a near daily basis for a full year. If you doubt my word, you can always bag what is left in the juice cans he passed to you and have it tested later."

"No, your word is good enough for me," Leorio declared much to Azalea's surprise. "You've been pretty honest with us so far and there's nothing you can gain by lying to us now. How much of the information he gave us about the other veterans can be trusted?"

"Probably most of it; he was bragging after all. He was not faking his fear of number forty-four either."

"Why did you call yourself no one important when Tonpa asked who you were?" Kurapika asked as he crouched down beside Azalea.

"You called yourself that the first time I asked you what your name was too," Gon pointed out with a slight frown before Azalea could answer.

"It's a rather long story and while I might one day be willing to trust the three of you with the bare bones of the tale, I don't really know you and you don't know me. I also don't trust the other ears that are currently eavesdropping on our conversation. Ask me again when our privacy can be guaranteed and I'll consider telling you what I can."

"Fair enough," Leorio allowed as he reached down to shake Azalea's hand before pulling the witch up onto her feet. "For now we should probably find ourselves a place to kick back and get a little rest since it looks like we might be here for a while yet."

The four of them moved back to an unoccupied corner of the room and spent the next eight hours taking two hour cat naps in groups of two so that each of them got some rest and they didn't leave themselves open to an attack. During that time, roughly another fifty applicants turned up to join the restless crowd; all four of them silently watching Tonpa as he diligently greeted each of the rookies and tempted them with his supply of tainted juices.

At the end of the eighth hour, Azalea dug into her supplies and liberated several pieces of fruit, some pumpkin pasties, and a few cauldron cakes that she shared with the others for their breakfast as well as more water; not sure if they'd be interested in having the pumpkin juice or not. More than a few of the other participants watched them enviously as they ate the small feast since only a handful of individuals had thought to pack edible supplies for the duration of the exam.

* * *

**AN: **_Okay, I just wanted to clarify one point before a Canon stickler pointed out the fact that I gave Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika the wrong numbers. First, the time they spent in front of the quiz lady was halved because my Harry/Azalea knocked the other dude out of the Exam. They saved even more time when Hedwig instigated the chase because they didn't walk the entire way to the cedar and so got to Zaban City earlier than in Canon. And that is why they had lower numbers. ~ Jenn_

**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	4. Comrades x in x Motion

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Four: Comrades x in x Motion

Three hours after the last handful of applicants entered the area, a funny sounding buzzer began sounding and the moment it cut off, a dull rumble filled the room as the stone wall opposite of the elevator entrance began rising up into the ceiling. Standing behind the moving wall, was an odd looking man with short purple hair that flared out slightly at the bottom, a thin dark brown mustache that curled up at the ends, and no apparent mouth.

Azalea couldn't decide if the new guy was weirder looking than the little green man that had handed out the badges or not. Shaking away her musings, Azalea focused on what the man was saying as he explained that the entrance period for new applicants had ended and that the exam had officially started (though how he could talk with no mouth was a complete mystery to the petite witch).

"Who are you?" one of the applicants demanded once the man had finished his short speech.

"I am Satotz, the Phase One Examiner; you must follow me to reach Phase Two. This is the exam's First Phase," the mouthless man stated as he turned away from the group and began walking away from them.

Just a few minutes after that, the man started moving faster, forcing everyone to start running in order to keep up with him. After the first three hours of running, Azalea just knew that she wasn't going to be able to keep up the current pace for much longer. Sure, she wasn't exactly out of shape but at the same time her past five years at Hogwarts hadn't given her very many chances of staying in shape (Quidditch practice, as fun as it was, didn't really exercise very many of the core muscle groups after all). She probably would have had even more trouble if not for the fact that her classes, her dorm, and the Great Hall had been spread throughout the entire castle and the extensive castle grounds and the fact that her aunt hadn't cut back on her chores during the summers.

Seeing her three temporary companions pulling ahead of her, Azalea made a snap decision and reached into her bag to grab her disillusioned Firebolt. She then sent Hedwig on ahead to keep an eye on the examiner while she allowed herself to slowly fall behind the others until there was no one behind her to see her mount her broom. It only took a second for her to climb onto the hidden broom and once she was steady, she stood up on the handle, cast a weak wandless sticking charm on her feet so they wouldn't slip off the polished surface, and let the broom skim along just inches above the ground as she slowly increased the speed until she began catching up with the other applicants.

Because she kept the disillusioned broom so close to the ground, the other applicants were unlikely to realize that she wasn't running like they were unless they were to look down at her feet. Even if they did realize that she had found someway to cheat, it wasn't like she'd be disqualified; after all, the First Phase was shaping up to be nothing more than an extreme version of Follow-the-Leader. She could always drop off the broom the moment it looked like they had reached their destination to make it look like she'd run the entire distance like everyone else if she needed to.

As she carefully wove through the stragglers with expert timing and precision, Azalea soon caught sight of a short boy with pale silver hair (that was messier than Azalea's hair) riding on a skateboard and she laughed softly to herself at the sight; seems she wasn't the only one that had decided to conserve her energy. She was, on the other hand, more than a little surprised to find another kid taking part in the exams since based upon what she'd seen of the rest of the applicants; most of those taking part in the Hunter's Exam were older teens and adults of all ages.

The witch's thoughts then turned inwards as she reexamined her reasons for taking the exam and her silent promise to grow strong enough to protect her friends; hoping and praying that Voldemort hadn't harmed them in order to try and flush her out once word of her disappearance spread. After a while, Azalea shoved aside her introspection along with the doubts that filled her heart and she began paying closer attention to her fellow applicants so that she could avoid getting knocked out of the exam by one of the other participants (like Tonpa) or one of those that collapsed in exhaustion.

Three hours after she'd started flying, Azalea witnessed a trio of applicants (the Amori brothers if she recalled Tonpa's earlier spiel correctly) harassing a heavyset kid with a laptop and she scowled as the kid dropped out of the running while bawling. Immediately after the computer nerd had dropped in defeat, she witnessed Tonpa paying off the three that had bullied the other kid. Azalea scowled at that; she hated bullies with a passion. Tonpa caught her staring and the man scowled back at Azalea before he jerked his gaze away.

Narrowing her eyes as the suspicion that the man would do his best to get her to quit or to get her disqualified rose inside of her, Azalea contemplated the morality of knocking the man (and his hired bullies) out of the running first by using her magic. Memories of all the times that Dahlia and a number of other bullies had verbally cut her down or physically pushed her around flashed through Azalea's mind and she clenched her jaw as she palmed her wand and allowed herself to drop back so she was once again at the very back of the group.

She then scanned those running ahead of her until she found her first target. Once she had the man in sight, she checked to make certain no one was paying any attention to her before she brought her wand up and cast the Trip Jinx. Azalea's aim was spot on and her target tripped over his feet before landing face first on the ground.

Azalea smirked and slowed down further as she angled her broom so that she coasted right passed the youngest Amori brother as she cast a silent Petrificus Totalus and a temporary sticking charm on him to prevent him from going any further; she'd chosen those two spell based upon the fact that they created no visible light and because they'd eventually wear off after three to four hours. When the man's two brothers dropped back to help their brother, Azalea casually hit them with the same three spells the moment they had fallen about even with her.

_Three down and one to go_, Azalea thought to herself as she let her broom speed up a touch in order to catch back up with the rest of the group so that she wasn't disqualified for failing to keep up.

Her attention was drawn away from her self appointed task when she noticed Leorio was starting to flag as the long-legged man fell to the back of the group. A few minutes later, the man stumbled to a stop and dropped his briefcase to the ground while Gon and the silver-haired kid with the skateboard both stopped several yards later and waited for Leorio to catch his breath. Azalea slowed her forward momentum as she listened to the silver haired boy urge Gon to forget about Leorio and keep going so that he wouldn't be disqualified.

Gon ignored the boy and simply continued to stare at Leorio as Azalea slowed to a stop just a few feet behind Leorio.

Azalea was just about to open her mouth to ask the older man if he was alright when the man straightened up and took off running. The witch simply shook her head before noticing that the man had forgotten to pick up his briefcase. Azalea had just drawn her wand in order to summon the thing so she could return it to the taller teen at some point when Gon snagged it with his fishing rod.

"Come on, James! Killua and I'll race you the rest of the way!"

"You know him?" the silver haired kid, whom Azalea assumed was the Killua person that Gon had mentioned, asked as he inspected Azalea for a moment.

"Yeah, he's James. James, this is Killua; he's twelve just like me. I met James on the ship that brought us to the island along with Leorio and Kurapika. He doesn't talk much and he hardly ever smiles but he's rather nice. He's also always falling behind and showing up last for everything; he's very smart though and he's got some neat tricks he can do that he calls family secrets. What do you say, James? Last one to reach the end buys the other two supper?"

"Go ahead," Azalea replied as she started her broom forward once more; hoping that the two boys would take off running right away so she could deal with Tonpa without an audience.

"You weren't kidding when you said he didn't speak much," Killua observed as the two of them fell in on either side of Azalea; leaving her a bit frustrated because she needed to deal with Tonpa but didn't want them to see her drop the jerk.

"Don't you two have a race to run?" Azalea asked with a touch of exasperation that both of the younger boys immediately picked up on.

"Are you trying to get rid of us?" Gon demanded as he pushed forward and stopped right in front of Azalea, forcing the witch to halt her broom least she run the kid over; nearly falling off as she did so.

"Yes."

Gon blinked at the honest answer in surprise while Killua asked, "Why? Didn't you just agree to race with us?"

"We're falling further behind," Azalea pointed out with a soft growl. "And there's something I need to do."

"What do you have to do? Can we help you?" Gon inquired as all three of them began moving once again; the two younger boys running while Azalea continued to fly on her broom. "And why aren't your feet touching the floor? Are you flying again?"

"How are you doing that?" Killua demanded as he too noticed that Azalea's feet weren't touching the floor.

"Years of practice and a talent for the impossible," Azalea quipped as she increased her speed in the hopes that she could pull away from the other two so she could disappear long enough to deal with Tonpa. "And no, you can't help, Gon."

"Why not?"

"Are you planning on cheating?" Killua inquired insightfully as he glanced at Azalea out of the corner of his eye. "And what exactly is it that you are doing?"

"Because it's something I have to do, Gon. And what makes you think I'm doing anything, Killua?"

"But aren't we supposed to be working together? Like you told that old woman?" Gon asked with a child's logic. "And James is flying, Killua; it's one of those family secret things I mentioned earlier so he probably can't tell us how he's doing it."

"I think he's just trying to avoid answering our questions," Killua stated with a slight scowl. "Are you sure he can be trusted?"

"I trust him."

"I don't remember being this annoying when I was twelve," Azalea deadpanned as she increased her speed again which prompted both twelve year olds to increase their speed as well so that they kept pace beside her; the two of them now running full out.

"Are you thirteen then?"

"No, he's sixteen."

"Sixteen? Are you kidding me, Gon? He's too short to be sixteen!"

"What do I have to do to get the two of you to leave me alone so that I can do what I need to do?"

"Why won't you let us help you? What are you trying to hide?" Gon demanded as he frowned up at Azalea.

Azalea felt an urge to scream as she closed her eyes and she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. She'd once thought no one could be more annoying than star struck fan-boys with out of control hormones or cameras. She was just contemplating whether or not she could justify hexing the two of them when Gon cried out in concern.

"James, watch out! Stairs!"

Snapping her eyes open, Azalea had just enough time to avoid crashing into the stairs by shifting her weight back onto her left foot at the last second. She then cast her eyes further up the stairs and noticed that they'd finally caught up with the stragglers. Cursing under her breath as she realized that they must be getting close to the exit, Azalea prepared to increase her speed again in order to regain all of the ground she'd lost when she felt both boys latch onto her arms.

"We're at the very back of the group and we're not going to pass this task if we don't hurry up," Gon urgently stated as he too realized what the stairs meant.

"There are too many people in front of us," Killua added with a slight scowl.

"Can the two of you run any faster?" Azalea asked as they broke apart briefly in order to move around a man that had crumbled to the ground.

"Yes, but it won't be easy going up the stairs."

"What about you? Can you go any faster?" Gon asked worriedly as he reattached himself to Azalea's arm at the first opportunity.

"Yes."

"Can you give us a lift since you were the one that held us back with all your evasions?" Killua all but ordered as he once again grabbed hold of Azalea's sleeve.

"If the two of you had just raced on ahead like you were planning to, then there wouldn't have been a problem," Azalea groused as she did some fast thinking. "Can I trust the two of you to keep a secret?"

"Yes!" both boys crowed in unison.

"Good, because we'll need to disappear if you expect me to carry you the rest of the way and you're going to have to hold on tight. Gon, grab onto my arm with both hands and when I give you the signal; I'm going to lift you up and you're going to need to put both of your feet one in front of the other right behind my left foot and then hold onto my waist. Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Now!"

Azalea lifted her left arm up and twisted her body so that Gon could step onto the invisible broom behind her while she tried not to throw herself off balance or crash the broom into the stairs. There was a brief moment where the broom wobbled dangerously as Gon scrambled to place his feet while transferring his arms from Azalea's arm to her waist but it thankfully didn't last long enough to knock either of the off of the broom. Once Gon was in a stable position, Azalea let out a soft sigh and reached across her body with her left arm to grab hold of Killua's left wrist.

"You're next, Killua," Azalea stated as she slipped her right arm behind the younger boy and hooked him under the armpit. "On the count of three I'm going to pick you up and pull you in front of me; you'll need to place your feet one in front of the other directly in front of my right foot. I promise I won't let you fall. Ready? One, two, and now!"

Azalea heaved the younger boy up and pulled him in front of her while keeping a tight grip on Killua as he hurried to place his feet as instructed. The broom veered to the left and Azalea shifted her weight to the right and onto her back foot to correct their trajectory and raise them several more inches from the rising stairs to compensate for the added weight of the two boys (the combined weight of all three of them more than three times that of Azalea's weight alone). The moment the broom was steady once more, she carefully pulled her wand back out and Disillusioned all three of them just before they passed another applicant that had been unable to continue. She then cast Sticking Charms on both boys' feet to prevent them from falling off before putting her wand away again (the version of the spell she used on them far stronger than the wandless one holding her own feet in place).

"You two will need to brace yourselves and, whatever you do, don't try to move your feet or you'll throw us off balance and cause us to crash. Oh, and from here on out, you'll need to stay silent so no one hears you or I will make it so you can't say anything for the rest of the exam. Ready?"

"Yes!"

"Then let's go!" Azalea replied as she leaned forward slightly to urge the broom even faster and pushed down on her back leg to push them up into the air high enough so that they wouldn't need to worry about running into the other applicants.

As they rocketed up the staircase, Azalea snapped out short, soft commands for the boys to lean to the left or the right as the occasional obstacle in the form of a low hanging light or an extra tall individual cropped up on their path. She could feel Gon pressing his face against her back and Azalea suspected the kid was fighting the urge to whoop loudly with excitement and not scream in fear by the way the kid was practically vibrating. Killua, on the other hand, had wrapped his hands around Azalea's arms and leaned back against Azalea to steady himself; though he too was shaking with suppressed excitement.

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them shot passed Kurapika and Leorio who were running side by side up the stairs and she nearly cringed when Gon automatically turned his head to the side started to call Leorio's name before he cut himself off. The two teens had heard the call before Gon caught himself but the three of them were long gone by the time the two of them had glanced up to look for the source of the call. Azalea wasn't too mad since the twelve year old had at least caught himself but she hoped he wouldn't do it again since the last thing she wanted was to draw the attention of the other applicants.

Just a few minutes after they passed Leorio and Kurapika, Azalea nearly gave their position away as she let out a soft, feral growl as they shot past Tonpa. If not for the fact that she could see a glimmer of what could only be open sky up ahead and the two twelve year olds standing on the broom with her, Azalea might have stopped right then in order to deal with the jerk. Needing to concentrate on her flying, least she run them into the wall or another person as they closed in on the open door, Azalea shoved all thoughts of Umbridge's long lost twin to the back of her mind.

"Killua, I need my right arm back," Azalea murmured as she wiggled the arm in question. The moment her arm was released, Azalea pulled her wand back out (so she could cancel the sticking charms on their feet) as she gave out the next set of instructions, "On the count of three, I'm going to need the two of you to slip your feet off to either side so that we can all sit down at once or we won't be able to clear the door. When you do, make certain you don't let go of me for any reason. Ready? One, two, and drop!"

The sixteen year old witch was never more thankful for Cushioning Charms as she was when she dropped roughly onto the handle of her broom; both of her hands occupied and unable to help her brace herself to ease her landing. The boys had it even worse and they both grunted and cringed over the borderline painful landing. They would soon forget about the ache between their legs as they shot out of the stairwell thirty seconds later. Azalea hurriedly pulled back on Killua as she hissed out an order for both boys to lean backwards so that the broom shot up into the sky instead of crashing into the back of the small crowd milling around just outside of the exit.

She then leaned into Killua and placed both hands on the handle so she could bring the broom to a complete stop; leaving the three of them hovering close to forty meters in the air as she sat up so that they were looking out over the fog covered grounds. She took a moment to still the rapid pounding of her heart over the near disaster (crash landings were never fun and crashing into people would have drawn far too much attention to herself) before she addressed her two passengers.

"Are you both alright?"

"Yeah; that was so awesome! Can we do it again?" Gon asked as he leaned sideways to peer down at the ground below in an attempt to see what was below the fog while keeping a tight hold of Azalea's waist.

"I'm alright and that was fun but what in the world are we sitting on?" Killua demanded at the same time.

"Hold on tight, I'm going to take us back down now," Azalea instructed as she ignored Killua's question and pointed the handle towards the ground as she once more leaned over Killua. Both twelve year olds bit off a squeal of excitement as they dropped straight down until Azalea came to a stop just a few inches above the roof of the stairway tunnel as it rose up out of the fog. She then sat up and inched the broom forward just as a loud clang shot through the air as the roll up door to the stairwell slammed shut; locking the last of the stragglers inside of the tunnel.

_That could have been us trapped in there,_ Azalea thought to herself as she swallowed thickly over how close she'd come to failing the exam.

Shaking away the thought of failing now, so soon after the true exam had started; Azalea searched the crowd until she found Kurapika and Leorio, both of whom were also searching through the other applicants. She nudged her broom forward and dropped down until she was hovering roughly two yards above of their heads with the intent of landing in the open space beside them when her attention was caught by the examiner as the man addressed the group once more. She felt both twelve year olds turn to face the mouthless man as he revealed that the First Phase was not yet complete.

"Welcome to the Numere Wetlands also known as Swindler's Swamp," Satotz stated as he gestured to the lowlands behind him as the fog shifted in the gentle breeze that lazily swept through the area. "In order to participate in the Second Phase, you must follow me through the wetlands. It is imperative that you remain alert as we cross through the swamp because this place is home to many strange and dangerous creatures that will prey upon the humans that fall into their clever traps. If you wish to survive the crossing, you will need to stay close to me as I lead you to the Second Phase."

"I don't know about the two of you but I'm feeling rather partial to flying for a bit longer," Azalea muttered as the examiner continued to describe the dangers of the swamp.

Before either twelve year old could comment on Azalea's mutters, there was a commotion below as a man attempted to accuse Satotz of being an impostor. Azalea used her wand, which she had yet to let go of, to scan the crowd below and determined that the accuser was actually the impostor just as Hisoka attacked both the examiner and the impostor; killing the impostor while Satotz blocked the attack by catching the cards. The sixteen year old couldn't stop the shiver that ran down her spine as she stared down at the man dressed as a jester; there was just something about the older man that screamed _danger_ to the witch.

"I don't trust that one," Killua murmured in a low pitched voice. "I think I like the idea of flying a little longer, James; if you don't mind the company. How fast can you go?"

"What about Kurapika and Leorio?" Gon asked from behind Azalea. "Can they fly with us as well?"

"Unfortunately, no; I can't hold anyone else," Azalea murmured as she began scanning the immediate area for any sign of Hedwig. "I can, however, have Hedwig keep an eye on the two of them for you and guide them in the event that they fall behind."

"Who is Hedwig?"

"She's my companion," Azalea replied at the same time as Gon answered, "She's James's owl."

The owl in question turned up just seconds later as she flew out from behind the tunnel exit to circle around the three hovering invisibly on the broomstick. Azalea let out a soft laugh, which surprised both the younger boys as they hadn't really heard her laugh before (her earlier snickers had gone unheard). She then softly addressed her long time friend and familiar, "Hedwig, can you watch over the two we were traveling with earlier and make certain they don't get lost?"

Hedwig gave a soft bark of compliance before she peeled away and dropped down to land on Kurapika's shoulder; her sudden weight startling the blond. Luckily, both Leorio and Kurapika immediately recognized her and accepted her presence without comment even as they continued to search the crowd for some sign of them (or so Azalea assumed).

"Thank you, James."

"No problem, Gon."

"Do you understand?" Satotz asked as he moved away from the dead impostor; his voice drawing the hovering trio's attention back down to the reason why they were all there. "If you can not keep up with me as we pass through the Numere Wetlands, then you will not live to reach the exam's Second Phase. Now, please follow me."

"Alright, Killua, since you are sitting in front; you're job is going to be to watch Satotz so that we don't get lost. Gon, your job is going to be to keep an eye on out for anything that tries to attack us from behind or above. I'm going to be concentrating on flying and avoiding any attackers coming at us from the front or below. Any questions? No? Then hold on tight."

Both twelve year olds smothered another squeal of excitement as they suddenly shot forward quite unexpectedly and quickly caught up to the fast moving examiner. Satotz glanced up in their direction briefly before he returned his eyes to the path in front of him and Azalea suspected that the man had sensed them and she increased their height marginally so as not to goad the potentially paranoid man into attacking them. When the fog began to thicken as they moved deeper into the swampland, Azalea dropped back down and slowed down just enough to let the examiner pull ahead of them another couple of yards before she matched his pace once more.

They'd barely been inside the swamp for twenty minutes when the first of the screams rang out from behind them as several participants were cut down by the creatures living in the swamp. Azalea flinched but resisted the urge to glance back over her shoulder as she focused on avoiding the obstacles that rose out of the fog (such as the trees and the larger creatures). She felt Killua twisting in her arms to glance behind them and hissed out a sharp reminder for the boy to not take his eyes off the examiner. Screams continued to ring out every few minutes but after a while the screams faded into the background noise of the swamp as the trio of flyers grew desensitized to the sound.

Six hours after exiting the tunnel, the last group of remaining applicants reached the location of the Second Phase and out of the four hundred and five participants that had started the First Phase more than two hundred had dropped out of the exam or they had potentially been killed by the inhabitants of the swamp.

Azalea and her two passengers were among the very first to arrive as was Tonpa to Azalea's disgust. Dropping down inside the cover of the forest that grew near where Satotz had stopped, Azalea removed the Disillusionment Charms before she told the other two to dismount. Once on the ground, she quickly tucked away her wand and shoved her broom back into her book bag. The three of them then casually walked out to join the rest of the applicants that had kept up with Satotz; all three of them looking fresh as daisies to the annoyance of several of the other candidates.

Tonpa looked especially annoyed as the infamous Rookie Crusher had been convinced that all three of them had failed to make it out of the tunnel since they hadn't been seen exiting the stairwell.

Azalea smirked at the older man as she pulled her hat down lower and shoved her glasses back into place before she turned away from the bully. The witch then immediately blanched as she caught sight of the contemplative look on the examiner's face as the man steadily met her eyes. Hedwig dropped down out of the sky just when the impromptu staring contest was beginning to grow uncomfortable and Azalea gratefully pulled her attention away from Satotz as the snowy owl landed on her left arm.

Several minutes later, Leorio and Kurapika stumbled into the clearing looking more than a little worn out but otherwise unharmed. Gon gave a cheer as he pulled Killua towards the pair while Azalea murmured soft praises to her feathered companion as she dug out an owl treat and offered it to her. Hedwig barked at her a couple of times, daintily accepted the proffered treat, and climbed her way up to her shoulder as she swallowed the treat in record time.

The witch stroked her breast feathers as she retreated to one side of the clearing, seeking to put more distance between herself and the other applicants, as she studied the large stone wall and gate that bordered the clearing on the northern side. After a few minutes, she picked out a tree that was several meters away from the gate (and at the edge of the applicants crowded around the gate) and settled herself against the trunk as she dug out two mugs, a bottle of water, and her tin of tea leaves.

She then poured Hedwig a cup of water and set it beside her as the owl dropped down to quench her thirst. Once her familiar had been taken care of, she set about making herself a proper cup of tea; using her wand to discreetly heat the water in her mug before setting the leaves to steeping. Watching the leaves swirl inside of the cup reminded her of her Divination classes and she let herself wonder what was happening back at Hogwarts. She felt another flash of guilt over leaving her friends behind before she ruthlessly shoved it aside as she once again saw them being injured by the Death Eaters because she'd stupidly led them right into a trap.

She had to get stronger so that she could protect her friends and she only prayed that they'd understand and forgive her one day. Then again, they might not want anything to do with her after the stupid stunt she pulled at the end of last year and it's not like she had received any letters from them (though that was mostly because she'd been unreachable since the day they left Hogwarts).

Sighing, Azalea summoned the soggy tea leaves from her tea and dropped them onto the ground before she took a sip of her tea. She sighed a second time in pure pleasure as she felt the heat of the caffeinated beverage rush through her system to warm her wind chilled body from the inside out. She took a second, larger sip before she dug back into her bag to grab a packet of tea biscuits that she opened up and settled on her thigh. She'd just dunked a biscuit into her tea when several shadows fell over her and she glanced up to find her four quasi companions smiling down at her.

"You know, Mr. Doom and Gloom, for a while there I was convinced that you'd failed to make it out of the tunnel when we couldn't find you," Leorio declared as he leaned down to get a good look at Azalea. "At least I had right up until the moment your little feathered friend dropped down out of the blue and I remembered that annoying little habit you have of disappearing when the mood strikes you. Sneaky, very sneaky of you. Clever too, how you trained your bird to act as a guide."

"Is that hot tea you're drinking? How in the hell did you get your hands on a cup of hot tea out here in the middle of nowhere?" Kurapika inquired when he caught sight of what Azalea was drinking.

Azalea just shrugged uncomfortably as she returned her attention to her tea and promptly let out a mournful sigh when she noted the soggy remains of the biscuit she'd been about to eat disintegrating at the bottom of her cup where it had fallen. She _hated_ soggy cookie remains floating in her tea because it reminded her of the days when she used to steal the dregs out of Dahlia's cup when she was sent to wash the dishes after the Dursleys had eaten their Afternoon Tea. A rather pathetic habit she'd developed in order to get something to eat and drink on days when her so-called relatives were withholding food for one reason or another.

"Do you… do you have any more? And would you… um… be willing to share?" Kurapika hesitantly asked; the teen obviously uncomfortable bumming food from others. "I didn't bring much with me but once the exam is over I can pay you back. You know, buy you lunch or something in return."

"The lot of you might as well sit down as it will take me a few minutes to make enough for everyone," Azalea politely (if grudgingly) replied around yet another small sigh over the fact that her brief moment of solitude had been disrupted.

She then dove into her book bag headfirst until she was buried up to her armpits as she dug through her supplies to find the camping teapot she'd purchased. She set that off to one side without pulling her head out of the bag and quickly dug out everything she'd need to make sandwiches since she knew the others would probably be hungry even if she herself wasn't. She grabbed a few pieces of fresh fruit as well before pushing herself deeper into the bag so she could pull out the extra cups she recalled buying alongside of the teapot. When she finally pulled herself back out of her bag, it was to find the other four staring at her in pure shock.

"How much crap do you have in there?" Leorio demanded once he picked his chin up off the ground.

"What would happen if you fell inside of the bag? Would you ever be able to get out?" Killua asked at the same time.

"That is so cool!" Gon crowed as his eyes danced with curiosity and excitement as he tried to get a closer look at the bag.

Azalea snorted and dumped the bread and sandwich fixings into Kurapika's hands (the blond sitting closest to her) as she ordered, "Instead of gaping like a monkey, make yourself useful and make the sandwiches so I can make the tea."

Twenty minutes later, the five of them were enjoying yet another impromptu feast to the shock and envy of several of the other applicants; their unanswered questions temporarily forgotten in favor of enjoying the hot drink and food after the long hours of running (or flying in Gon and Killua's case).

* * *

**AN: **_For those of you who are familiar with the Hunter x Hunter series, you're probably wondering what happened to the encounter between Hisoka, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika and the short answer is that it didn't happen. Gon was in the air and both Leorio and Kurapika had taken a different route as they followed Hedwig. There will be other encounters with the crazed criminal but most of them will take place off screen since I've written this story most from Azalea's POV with a couple of sections from other POVs. ~ Jenn_

**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	5. Cooking x and x Falling

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Five: Cooking x and x Falling

"The Second Phase of the exam will be taking place inside of the Visca Forest Park," Satotz announced several hours later (once it was obvious that there would be no other stragglers joining them); the man's blue eyes skimming over the remaining one hundred and sixty some applicants and Azalea shifted uneasily when the man's gaze lingered on her for a moment before moving on. "I shall be taking my leave now; best of luck to you all."

The First Phase examiner then gave Azalea one last, searching look before he strode off back into the Numere Wetlands where he was soon swallowed up by the fog. Behind them, the large gates leading into the Forest Park swung open with a loud creak to reveal a huge mansion with a large courtyard filled with cooking stations and barbecues.

Seated on a small couch at the foot of the steps leading up into the mansion was a young woman with teal colored hair that was pulled up into five ponytails that were wrapped round with pink ribbons and wearing skimpy shorts, a black bra under a see through midriff shirt, and knee high boots. The woman immediately reminded Azalea of Tonks due to her outrageous hair and evocative outfit. Sitting on the ground right behind her was a huge, barefoot man that reminded Azalea of Hagrid or possibly Hagrid's brother Grawp; only far rounder and clean shaven.

"Welcome to the Second Phase of the two hundred eighty-seventh Hunter's Exam," the woman called out as she draped her arms over the back of the couch. "Will everyone please step inside of the gates? Thank you! My name is Menchi and I am the Second Phase examiner."

"And I am Buhara, the other Second Phase examiner," the man added with a childish grin as he cheerfully waved at the applicants.

As Menchi explained their next test, grumbles and complaints could be heard from the majority of the applicants and Azalea frowned as she studied the two examiners. More than one person laughed when the woman revealed herself and her partner to be Gourmet Hunters but Azalea was far too busy wondering how proving she could cook would help her get the training she needed to defeat Voldemort. Her attention was drawn back to the pair as the argument was ended when the woman declared that they either took her test or they failed and tried again another year. All of the applicants fell silent and sullen after that as the pair laid out the small handful of rules and named the main ingredient that everyone had to use; pork.

"I hate cooking for other people," Azalea muttered under her breath.

"You know how to cook, James?" Gon asked with some surprise.

"Yeah; you could say that. Why?"

"If I bring back two pigs could you help me? I don't know how to cook at all."

"Neither do I," Killua admitted with Kurapika and Leorio echoing him a heartbeat later.

"They didn't say we couldn't work together," Azalea stated with a frown as the rest of the applicants dashed off into the forest in search of a pig while their small group stayed right where they were. "If three of you will go hunt down a pig and one of you will help me prepare the rest of the ingredients, then I guess I can do most of the actual cooking."

"Deal!" all four of the others cried out without any hesitation.

Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika were all quick to follow in the wake of the other participants while Killua trotted along at Azalea's side as the witch roamed through the cooking stations until she found the one in the far left row that sat a few feet away from the other stations and was therefore somewhat isolated (making it harder for another applicant to get close enough to sabotage their efforts). Azalea was a bit worried about the calculating look in Killua's when he had volunteered to help her prepare the ingredients and it had her more than a little one edge. When the kid just obediently followed her to the cooking station and glanced up at her waiting for instructions, Azalea relaxed marginally.

"Ever use a knife before?"

"Yes," Killua replied with a creepy smile that reminded Azalea of Bellatrix for a moment.

"Good, you can start peeling potatoes," Azalea replied as she did her best to ignore the almost crazed look in the kid's eyes; choosing instead to search through the provisions provided for the ingredients she'd need to make stuffed pork chops, grilled pork steaks, a pork roast, pork stir fry, and pork stew with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, steamed veggies, steamed rice, fresh bread, and a chef salad as side dishes (one dish and side dish for each of them to offer up as part of the task). "Once you have ten peeled, dice them up into half-inch cubes."

"Alright."

While Killua started peeling the potatoes, Azalea peeled, sliced, and diced five large onions, an entire clove of garlic, and two bunches of celery. She then took a short break to start the rice and set half a dozen eggs to boiling before she heated several teaspoons of butter in a skillet so that she could sauté the celery, onions, and garlic. Killua finished with the potatoes about that time and Azalea had him start peeling and cutting up the carrots while she divided the potatoes up between the two pots she had on the stove; one for the stew (to be added after the meat had cooked) and one for the mashed potatoes. They'd been working for about half an hour when Killua finally broke the rather companionable silence between the two of them.

"Gon really likes you for some reason."

"Hnn."

"The other two seem to trust you more than you trust them."

"Hnn."

"The examiner from the First Phase was really interested in you; he kept watching you after we landed."

Azalea damn near sliced her thumb off as the knife she'd been using to slice the bell peppers for the stir fry slipped and cut deeply into the digit in question. The delinquent witch let loose a string of creative invectives as she stuffed the injured thumb in her mouth before she practically dove into her book bag for her Home Healer's Kit so she could clean and heal the cut quickly; treating the wound well out of sight inside of the book bag. She was still scowling when she stood back up a few minutes later.

"Knowing that he suspects you're hiding something really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"What do you want, Killua?"

"I want to know what you are hiding. Who are you really?"

"I'm someone who would prefer to be no one," Azalea replied quietly as she continued preparing the various dishes now that there was no danger of her bleeding out all over the ingredients.

"What kind of an answer is that supposed to be?"

Azalea just shook her head as she set the last of the bell peppers off to one side, gave the rice a stir to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan, and promptly began measure out the various spices for the stuffing as she pulled the sautéed celery, onions, and garlic off the heat and set it off to one side before she diced up several slices of bread that she dried out with a discreet wave of her wand. She deftly added both the spices and the bread to the sautéed veggies and stirred them well before slowly adding milk to the mixture until the bread was slightly moist. She then returned the skillet to the heat and covered it to cook the entire mixture.

Before Killua could repeat his questions, the other three returned carrying a huge pig with an excessively large snout and Azalea stared at it in disbelief before she shook her head and directed them to set it down beside the unlit barbecue. She then ordered the three of them to wash their hands so they could prepare the salad; instructing Gon to wash and tear the lettuce, Leorio to cut up the tomatoes, celery, and more carrots, and Kurapika to peel and slice the hard boiled eggs and to dice the sliced turkey breast and cooked ham for the salad. While they were doing that, Azalea grabbed a skinning knife and approached the dead pig with grim determination as she chose to see the huge swine as nothing more than an oversized potion ingredient.

It was about that time that the other applicants began returning with their own pigs in tow and Azalea couldn't help but note that everyone else seemed to simply be roasting the pigs whole; without even bothering to gut them. She frowned and wondered if she was going to too much trouble for the task before she glanced up and noticed the derisive sneer on Menchi's face as she watched everyone roasting their pigs over an open fire. Shaking her head, Azalea quickly butchered the pig (a task made somewhat easy due to the high number of unpleasant detentions she'd had over the past five years cutting up various potion ingredients under the supervision of Snape).

The leg bones were then tossed into the stew pot to boil along with some of the less desirable cuts that had been cubed. The roasts were trussed up with butcher's twine, tucked into roasting pans, and thrown into the oven. Seeing that Killua had nothing to do at the moment, she passed the nosy little brat several hunks of meat and told him to cut them into thin strips that were one inch wide, three inches long, and a quarter inch thick. Leorio was then asked to start the barbecue (to grill the steaks) while Kurapika was given a red onion to slice and Gon was told to grate the cheese.

The pork chops were then stuffed and tossed into the oven and the steaks set onto the grill after Azalea adjusted the flames and heat with a quick flick of her wand when she was certain no one was watching. Kurapika and Killua were then asked to cut up broccoli and cauliflower to steam while Leorio and Gon were set to shucking the corn on the cob. By this time, several of the other applicants were hauling their roasted pigs up to the examiners and twin cries of pass and fail rang out with each dish presented; Buhara passing everyone and Menchi failing everyone.

Growing nervous, Azalea checked on everything that was in the oven, added the vegetables to the stew, and pulled the rice from the heat. The mashed potatoes were done a few minutes later and she drained them, dumped them in a bowl, and passed it to the others and told one of them to mash them as she added margarine, salt, milk, and garlic powder. The steaks were flipped, the stuffed chops rotated, and the inner temperature of the roast checked. After that, she finally started the stir fry as she told Kurapika and Leorio to dish everything else onto platters and instructed them to make certain it looked professional.

Four hours after the task first started, three hours after the others had brought the pig back, and one hour after all of the other applicants had failed the test; Azalea led the other four in her group up to where the two examiners were sitting at the base of the stairs. Each of them carried a platter with a different course and side dish on it with enough food on each tray for both examiners to taste test. They carefully slid their platters onto the table in front of Menchi and stepped back as they waited for the verdict. Buhara was mostly stuffed but the moment he saw what was placed in front of him he reached for it only for Menchi to slap his hand away and tell him to wait a moment.

The teal haired woman studied each platter critically before she studied the individual that had carried the platter and after she finished that, she gave Azalea a piercing look as she picked up a fork and tried the first dish; stir fried pork over a bed of white rice with a light teriyaki sauce and a side of steamed vegetables. She chewed carefully and took a second bite before she passed the entire platter to Buhara who immediately proclaimed the dish delicious as he practically inhaled it in one bite.

While Buhara was devouring the first offering, Menchi was sampling the roast pork with mashed potatoes and brown gravy. This time she took three bites before passing the entire platter to her partner and all five entrants were starting to grow antsy because Menchi hadn't said a single word. Azalea felt like she was nine years old again and standing in front of Aunt Petunia while her mother's sister sampled the roast duck she'd made on her orders for one of Uncle Vernon's client dinners as the teal haired woman cut into a stuffed pork chop before sampling the chef's salad that accompanied it. Unexpectedly, a pleased hum was heard from the finicky woman and Menchi ate a whole pork chop before grudgingly passing the rest to Buhara.

That left only two remaining dishes; the grilled pork steaks with grilled corn on the cob and a thick pork stew with buttered bread. She barely sampled the grilled steaks but consumed an entire bowl of stew before passing the last of the food to Buhara who continuously proclaimed everything as perfect. The woman on the other hand, daintily wiped her mouth, propped her elbows on the table, and tucked her chin in her hands as she leaned forward and pinned Azalea with a raptor's gaze.

"Number three-five-seven, you are an interesting individual; I think I like you. With skills like yours, don't think I didn't notice that you did a good portion of the work on all of the dishes; you could be a great Gourmet Hunter. Out of all the applicants participating in the Second Phase, you are the only one that truly understood the task. You still need more training though and I think I will enjoy helping you perfect your technique."

"Thank you for the compliments, ma'am, but no thank you. I hate cooking. All I need to know is if we passed the task as while I might have done most of the cooking, I could not have made all of the dishes without the help of the others."

"You hate cooking?" Menchi parroted back in shock and more than a little anger.

Azalea just shrugged in reply before she turned and walked away, certain that they'd failed just like everyone else had now. Besides, she needed to clean up her messes and put away the unused ingredients as well as the leftover food since she had no intention of letting the food she'd cooked go to waste and old habits were hard to break. She was the only one unsurprised when the woman loudly declared that they were all failures.

The goofy old guy dropping out of the airship that had flown over the testing area to chastise the woman for failing everyone, on the other hand, surprised her just as much as his sudden appearance surprised the rest of the applicants.

Azalea studied the man; taking in his mostly bald head with a long samurai's topknot of white hair, excessively long eyebrows, bushy white mustache, a strangely styled white beard that looked like the tip had been dipped in gray paint, and huge earlobes that had been pierced twice. He wore a traditional martial arts gi with blue trim, a yellow v on the back, and long sleeves that hung down passed his hands and a pair of wooden geta (a type of Japanese sandal that resembled a cross between a flip-flop and a clog with one or two long 'teeth' on the bottom that elevated the wearer and helped keep their feet out of the mud).

As if he had felt Azalea's eyes on him, the man turned to meet Azalea's gaze and the witch froze as the man's piercing brown eyes seemed to weigh and measure her soul in that single glance. Azalea shifted nervously from foot to foot as she briefly wondered if the man knew that she was a witch. The wide smile the man gave her just seconds later only served to add to her concerns as she couldn't help but worry about what that smile might mean for her in the long run. Azalea didn't relax again until the man looked away.

Not long after that, the group was informed that the Second Phase of the test was going to be redone and that everyone would have a second chance at passing Menchi's test. This time, they were supposed to boil eggs.

The moment that Azalea saw what the new task entailed, she felt excitement bubble up inside of her as she stared down into the canyon and watched Menchi fly without aide of a broom. Azalea didn't even care about the eggs that they were supposed to collect; she just wanted to dive into the canyon so she could fly on the uplift. After a few minutes of consideration, Azalea took her broom out of her pack; sure, flying unaided looked like fun but Azalea didn't feel like tempting fate. She purposefully held herself back when just over a third of the remaining applicants jumped into the canyon all at the same time on the heels of Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika.

Leaning over the side of the canyon, Azalea watched Gon take charge as he told the others to wait as they all held onto the large webs strung between the two walls of the canyon. A few of those that didn't wait for Gon's signal ended up falling to their deaths and Azalea barely restrained the urge she felt to throw herself over the side to save them. Just when it seemed like the webs would break under the combined weight of the fifty-five applicants still holding onto the web, Gon gave the signal as he let go and grabbed an egg on the way down before the uplift caught him and threw him back up into the air. Azalea knew that far more people than expected successfully retrieved an egg because of the kid.

Once everyone else was back up on the top of Mount Split-in-Half, Azalea casually slipped off her hat and tucked it into her bag as she walked up to the canyon edge. She then turned her back to the canyon before she closed her eyes, spread her arms out wide (her left hand firmly holding onto her broom), and simply allowed herself to fall backwards. She knew that several people were watching her as she heard more than one cry of shock ring out when she intentionally ignored both the webs and the hanging eggs and soon disappeared into the fog deep within the canyon; a number of people undoubtedly thinking she'd just committed suicide.

She didn't care what they thought though because she was far too wrapped up in the heart pounding sensation of falling.

After another couple of minutes, Azalea sensed the ground growing closer (an ability she'd developed during the long hours of insane flying drills that Oliver Wood had put her through during her first three years on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team) and she spun herself around and smoothly mounted her broom as she slowed to a stop just inches away from the jagged rocks lining the bottom of the canyon. And then, a great gust of wind pushed her up and she let her Firebolt shoot upwards as she crowed out a wordless cry of sheer joy as the rushing wind tripled the fastest speed of her broom and in less than a minute she was exploding out of the canyon with a loud whoop.

Azalea couldn't resist falling backwards to do it again the moment the wind vanished from beneath her and the fall lasted twice as long this time because of how high she'd been thrown. She barely even slipped below the level of the fog before the wind was throwing her up again and this time she let go of her broom with her hands and let her body hang by her legs as she was pushed up even higher than before. Again and again she played tag with the uplifts with Gon and Killua both jumping in to join her after the first half hour (the two boys making good use of the webs as they tried to match the speed and heights she managed with her broom).

There was something exhilarating about letting herself get lost in the moment as the Hunter's Exam, the prophecy, and Voldemort faded into the shadows. And for one fleeting moment, Azalea was just an ordinary witch flying on her broom and dancing with the wind.

As the sun began to set, Azalea finally dropped down to hover beside one of the hanging nests of eggs and carefully selected one that appeared ready to fall; the nest damaged by the other applicants. After a moment's debate, she carefully secured the rest of the eggs in that clump so that they would not fall to their death since those eggs were needed if the species was to survive. When she rose up out of the canyon this time, she was standing on her broom without aide and without the benefit of an updraft to carry her out of the gorge.

She neither cared nor noticed the calculating looks that all of the full-fledged Hunters present gave her as she rose above the cliff and dropped down to sit on the Firebolt properly so she could grab the handle of the broom before she jumped off and landed on her feet. She then tucked her egg beneath her arm so it wouldn't drop before returning the broom back to her book bag and fishing out her hat. By the time she looked up, no one was looking in her direction any longer and she happily moved off a ways from the rest of the group in order to cook her egg.

"I'm sorry, I should not have failed you and your friends during the first run of the Second Phase," a familiar voice declared just seconds before Menchi stepped out of the growing shadows and took a seat across the fire from Azalea fifteen minutes later. "I was angry because you have a lot of potential and you're willing to let it go to waste."

Azalea glanced over at her before returning her attention to the large egg rolling around in the pot of boiling water sitting in the center of the small fire she made. She didn't know what to say in reply to the woman and part of her was still angry at her for dismissing the others the way she had; they'd worked just as hard on those dishes as she had. She also hoped that by maintaining her silence that the woman wouldn't feel the need to dig into her reasons for being able to cook like she did while professing to hate cooking.

"You talk too much, you know that?"

The witch snorted and flicked her eyes over to the female Hunter a second time before she pulled the pot off of the fire and carefully dumped out the water before she cooled the egg down with cold water from her supplies. Once she could handle the egg without burning her hands, she carefully cracked it and peeled away the shell before slicing it up into several wedges that she promptly fed to Hedwig one at a time.

"You should try some of that; it's really good you know."

"I don't like eggs," Azalea stated with a shrug of her shoulders as she tried not to shudder; she disliked eggs (no matter what kind they were or how they were cooked) almost as much as she disliked soggy biscuit crumbs in her tea and for pretty much the same reason.

"Is there anything you do like?"

"Yes."

"James! There you are! We've been looking all over for you," Gon exclaimed as he and Killua dashed up beside her out of breath. "It's time to go and if we don't hurry they'll leave us behind."

"Go on ahead."

"You're not trying to get rid of us again, are you?" Gon demanded with a trace of suspicion and a stubborn set to his jaw.

"No; I have to put out my fire and clean up first."

"Good, you better hurry up."

Azalea let out a soft snort as she quickly put out her small campfire before she packed up her things and cleaned up her small camp. When Menchi fell into step beside her, she couldn't help but throw a frown in her direction as she wondered whether or not the older woman had been attempting to make her miss the airship or if she'd been sent to interrogate her. By the time the two of them reach the glorified blimp that would be transporting them to the next Phase of the Exam, Azalea was scowling as she worried over just how much interest the Hunters had shown in her so far.

"Ah, number three-fifty-seven, right on time," the goofy old man from earlier declared as Azalea stepped inside of the airship after sending Hedwig off to make her own way to their next destination (Azalea had not wished for her feathered companion to be trapped within the airship for who knew how long without proper room to stretch her wings). "I just need a little more information from you for our records before you join the other applicants; starting with your full name."

"James."

"Is there a last name to go with that?"

"No."

"Hnn. Alright, birthdate?"

"July thirty-first."

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

"Gender?"

Azalea flinched slightly in response to the question before she reluctantly lied, "Male."

"Can you please tell me the names of your parents and their current address?"

"Why do you need to know about my parents?" Azalea asked warily as she nervously glanced around the room for the first time and noted that both the door behind her and the door leading deeper into the airship were currently being blocked by Menchi and Satotz respectfully while the green guy that had passed out the numbered badges was standing just a few feet behind the old man.

"You are currently underage; so we need to have the name and address of an emergency contact in the event that you are seriously injured during the remaining phases of the exam now that you've passed the first two. So, why don't you start with your mother?"

"Dead."

"Ah, I am sorry to hear that young man. Father?"

"Dead."

"I see. Who is your legal guardian?"

"My godfather."

"And he is…?"

"Dead."

"I'm beginning to sense a pattern here," the old man drawled with obvious concern and a trace of frustration. "May I ask who has been taking care of you if all of your primary caregivers are deceased?"

"Me."

"Hnn. I still need the name and address of someone we can contact in the event of an emergency."

"I don't have one that I can give you," Azalea reluctantly stated as she pushed away the brief flash of pain she felt at denying the existence of those few she saw as her friends and family but she couldn't risk someone seeking them out to do them harm because of her.

"And just who am I supposed to contact if something happens to you?"

Azalea just shrugged and stuffed her hands in her pocket as she hunched her shoulders and avoided meeting the man's gaze when he openly frowned at the witch. It wasn't like there was any real need to notify the wizarding world of her death anyway. The goblins would learn of her death the moment her core stopped producing magic (something that usually occurred between fifteen and twenty-four hours after a magical's heart permanently stopped beating) due to the magic that tied her to her vaults. The goblins could also be trusted to deal with her vaults in the event of her death as they had a copy of her will; which basically split everything she owned up between her friends.

"Moving on, then; what is your current height?"

"One-hundred-fifty-two and one-half centimeters."

"And your current weight?"

"Six and a half stone."

"Known health issues?"

"None," Azalea replied even as she added a silent, '_unless you were to count the huge target I've been wearing on my back since __**before**__ I was born._'

"Date of your last physical?"

"Physical?" Azalea repeated in confusion.

"When was the last time you saw your family doctor for a complete check-up?"

"Oh, I saw the school nurse back in the middle of June."

"The school nurse?"

"Yes."

"The school nurse gave you a physical?"

"I suppose. She said I was fine."

"And the last time you saw an actual doctor; outside of school?"

"Never."

"Just one more question and we're done here; do you have any identifying marks such as tattoos, scars, or birthmarks? If the answer is yes, I'll need a brief description and location of each one."

Azalea jerked her head up in shock and automatically took a step backwards as she demanded, "Why do you need to know that?"

"For identification purposes in the event that you are killed and your face is unrecognizable," the old man replied bluntly as he briefly glanced up from the form he'd been filling out.

"I have a few scars," Azalea grudgingly supplied after eying the man a minute longer. "A jagged line on my forehead, a two inch line in the crook of my right elbow, three shallow gashes on the back of my left shoulder, and…"

Azalea trailed off as she thought about the last scar and unconsciously pulled her hands out of her pocket so she could run her left thumb over the words she'd been forced to carve into the back of her right hand during her detentions with Umbridge all throughout her fifth year. As much as she'd grown to hate the lightning bolt scar on her forehead since rejoining the wizarding world, she hated those terrible words even more. She shivered a bit as thoughts of that scar led to thoughts of Umbridge and her fifth year which in turn led to thoughts of the battle she and her friends had fought at the end of the term and Sirius's death which soon turned to thoughts of the prophecy once again.

"And…?" the man prompted when Azalea didn't immediately finish; his voice pulling Azalea out of her memories.

"And a couple of letters on the back of my right hand."

"Can you tell me what letters?"

"I must not tell lies."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The scar on the back of my hand spells out the words 'I must not tell lies'," Azalea repeated in a dead voice as she shoved her hands back into her pockets and stared at the wall over the man's left shoulder in order to avoid meeting his eyes as he glanced up sharply from the form he was filling out the moment Azalea clarified her answer.

"I see. Thank you for your patience, James. Just follow Beans; he'll lead you to where the others are waiting."

* * *

"Satotz? What was your analysis?" Isaac Netero, Chairman of the Hunter's Association demanded softly as he watched Beans lead applicant number three-fifty-seven towards the lounge where all of the other applicants were waiting.

"He is a riddle. By rights he should not have had the stamina to complete Phase One as he has clearly gone through long, repeated periods of malnourishment based upon his age, height, weight, and physical stature; unless he was lying about his age. And yet, he arrived at the site of the Second Phase in peak condition and not winded at all and I had sensed him and the two younger children that have stuck to his side like glue pacing me throughout the crossing of the Numere Wetlands. There were even a few times when it seemed as if the three of them were practically flying over my head and I never once caught a single glimpse of them throughout the course of the task. In fact, I didn't see them until they reached the end of the trail."

"Menchi?"

"He is a decent cook but claims to hate cooking. I watched him almost the entire time and he had no trouble keeping track of ten different dishes while keeping the other four that worked with him properly occupied. He also never sampled a single bite of the food he made while he was cooking and I half expected the food they presented to be horribly bland or far too over spiced. And while there was plenty of room for improvement, they were all well made. So, he's highly organized, can multitask, is obviously intelligent, and is used to stepping forward as a leader. The stubborn brat also doesn't speak one word more than necessary."

"Yes, I noticed that. Mizuken? How truthful was the lad?"

"Aside from the fact that he is actually a _she_ and her name isn't James, the kid never once told an outright lie even if she wasn't exactly being perfectly honest either," a voice replied as a man with an angular face, dark brown eyes, sparse mustache and goatee, and shaggy brown hair he stepped out from behind the hidden panel in the wall beside the entrance. "She's a skittish little thing and she's been partially trained to use her Nen; though whether she had someone teach her or she learned it on her own is hard to say. She's a right powerful little runt too. In fact, all five members of that little group are extremely powerful."

"A girl? Well, I suppose it isn't all that difficult to imagine why she'd wish to hide her true gender given her age and size when one considers the number of unsavory individuals that participate in the exams each year. Do we know anything else about her?"

"The ship captain that brought applicants three-fifty-four through three-fifty-seven to the island had nothing but good things to say about all four individuals; though he had surprisingly little to say about three-fifty-seven despite the fact that the girl had been one of the first applicants he'd picked up," Satotz added after a moment. "The Quizzing Lady said she has a sixth sense for spotting trouble, that she is highly intuitive, and that she is a natural born leader with limitless potential. Both of them also believed that she was a boy; so she is rather good at portraying and disguising herself as a boy."

"The Kiriko said that she is far too mature for her age and that trapped inside her soul is a broken little child with a deeply ingrained belief that her life is worth nothing; stating that she is slow to trust, quick to assume the worst, and far too self-sacrificing. They also thought her a boy as she'd been able to mask her physical presence from their senses just enough to make it difficult to get a clear read on her," Mizuken offered as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. "If numbers three-fifty-five and three-fifty-seven pass the exam, I want to be the one to test and train them; they are both filled with burning determination and desperation."

"I'll keep that in mind when I assign tutors to each of the new Hunters for the hidden exam," Netero replied as he glanced down at the incomplete Hunter Application in his hands. "I'd like the three of you to continue keeping an eye on that particular group throughout the rest of the Exam. As you may have noticed, Ging's son has gravitated to our mysterious young lady."

"Ging's son is truly something else. He showed no fear as he jumped into the canyon and he is just as much of a leader as number three-fifty-seven; only he has far more confidence in himself," Menchi stated with a small laugh.

* * *

**Notes:**

Stone (when in reference to weight) – one stone is equal to fourteen pounds so six and half stone is approximately ninety-one pounds.

* * *

**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	6. Games x We x Play

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Six: Games x We x Play

"Here we are, young man; you'll find the rest of your fellow applicants through these doors," Beans announced as they stopped in front of a set of doors.

"Thank you," Azalea replied as she made no move to open the door; her thoughts in turmoil due to the short question and answer session that the old man had just put her through. The short green man waited patiently beside her and Azalea wished he would leave because she wanted to make herself invisible before she entered the room so that she wouldn't have to talk to anyone.

"Chairman Netero will be arriving shortly to debrief all of the applicants," Beans stated after another few minutes passed. "You should join the others now, so that you don't miss his speech."

Azalea sighed and nodded but still made no move to open the doors. Beans let her have another minute before he simply opened the left door and held it open so that Azalea could enter the room first. Sighing again, Azalea pulled her hat down low over her face and hunched her shoulders before she reluctantly shuffled into the room. She kept her eyes on the ground in order to avoid meeting anyone's gaze and stuck close to the wall as she moved a few feet away from the door. She then leaned back against the wall, crossed her arms over her chest, and ignored the numerous pairs of eyes she felt staring at her.

Just a few minutes later, the man that had been questioning Azalea entered the room alongside Beans and everyone was asked to gather close. Azalea opted to remain where she was (the witch unwilling to mingle with the other applicants at the moment) though she did finally pull her eyes away from the floor. She couldn't help but flinch when the man stated that he was the chairman for the current exam and she found herself breaking out into a cold sweat as she wondered why the chairman had felt the need to personally question her when any old examiner could have done so.

The witch doubted that the man had interviewed all fifty-six of the remaining applicants; otherwise it would have taken longer for them to take off (unaware that she was the only applicant that hadn't turned in a completed application prior to entering the Exam).

"Please allow me to properly introduce myself; I am Isaac Netero; the Chairman for the two hundred eighty-seventh Hunter Exam Selection Committee. I had originally planned to make an appearance during the final Phase of the test but I find the rising tension in the air exhilarating and so I have decided to stick around a little longer in the hopes that a few of the remaining fifty-six applicants in this room will entertain me."

"For those of you who don't know me, I am Chairman Netero's secretary; Beans. We are due to arrived at the site of the next phase tomorrow morning at eight o'clock in the morning," Beans stated while Chairman Netero laughed heartily over his own declaration. "For those of you who are hungry, there is a buffet style supper set up in the main Dining Hall. There are also a series of small dorms available if you wish to get some rest. In other words, all of you are free to do as you wish until we arrive at our destination."

Azalea scowled and returned her gaze to the floor as the majority of the other applicants filed out of the room seeking food or a bed. She heard, rather than saw, Gon and Killua dart passed her on their way out; the two boys eagerly discussing what part of the airship they should explore first. Azalea wasn't certain whether she should feel relieved or depressed over the fact that neither boy had stopped to try and talk her into joining them as she had half expected them to. She overheard her other two short-term companions drawing nearer next.

"There is one thing that bothers me," Kurapika confessed to Leorio as the two of them reached the door.

"And what is that?" Leorio asked in return.

"Exactly how many more phases are there to this exam?"

"Oh. None of the examiners so far have mentioned an exact number, have they?"

"The number of tasks varies from year to year but on average there are usually five or six phases," Tonpa answered as he walked up behind the other two.

"That would mean that we still have at least three more to go…" Leorio mused and Azalea lifted her head just enough to see the taller man stop and turn around to face the shorter man.

"All the more reason for us to get some rest now," Kurapika stated tiredly and both the blond and Leorio turned to leave once more.

"I wouldn't let my guard down if I were you," Tonpa quickly added before the other two could leave the room. "There are still thirteen hours between now and when we arrive and…"

"And you should shut up," Azalea growled derisively as she pushed away from the wall; her annoyance with the foul little man spiking sharply due to her current insecurities and irritation. "I've met people like you before; people who think it is their god-given right to walk all over everyone else because they have been deluded into thinking themselves superior. When in truth they are nothing more than insignificant little toe-rags that get off on bullying those who are smarter or more talented than they are in order to make themselves feel better about the fact that they themselves are nothing but hopeless failures that lie and cheat their way through life. People like you disgust me."

Kurapika and Leorio were gaping at Azalea; neither one of the teens had ever heard the witch string so many words together or use such a contemptuous tone in all the time they'd spent in her company. Tonpa's face, on the other hand, had steadily grown darker throughout Azalea's short speech as the man grew angrier with each word Azalea uttered.

"I'm going to kill you," Tonpa growled as he clenched his fists and bared his teeth.

"You and what army, little toad?"

"I'm going to choke the life out of you with my bare hands!"

Azalea let out a soft, low, dark laugh that held no trace of humor in it and those that were close enough to hear her shivered nervously (bar one murderously insane man that was standing just outside the room and wearing a badge with the number forty-four on it). The young witch then sneered at the small, fat man as she scathingly retorted, "Uglier and more powerful men than you have tried and failed to kill me time and time again. You wouldn't even make me break a sweat before your world went black."

Azalea then deliberately turned her back on the older man and walked out of the room without looking back. She'd barely gone three steps beyond the door when the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she instinctively dropped down into a crouch, spun around on her heels as she thrust her right arm forward, and let the incantation for the Full Body-Bind Curse cling to the tip of her tongue. She jerked her eyes upwards seconds later and felt the spell freeze in her mouth as she found Hisoka the Magician looming over her with one hand stretched out (as if the man had been going to grab her) and wearing a rather creepy grin. Azalea didn't dare breathe as she waited for the man to attack her.

"Impressive," Hisoka murmured as his grin grew wider. "Almost as impressive as that neat little flying trick you did earlier. I think I'll be keeping an eye on you, little mouse. I want you to impress me again."

Azalea dropped back onto her butt as the creepy man licked his lips in anticipation he before walked right by Azalea. She took a shaky breath and carefully did not turn her head to watch the man walk away as she silently thought, '_Merlin's grubby and moth eaten undershorts; that man frightens me more than Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters combined._'

"Are you alright, James?" Kurapika demanded as he and Leorio rushed up to her; the two of them had witnessed the entire scene as they'd followed after her once they'd made certain that Tonpa wasn't going to attack her while her back was turned.

"Just peachy," Azalea deadpanned as she reached up to ran a hand over her face and knocked her glances askew.

"Come on, you can come bunk in one of the dorms with us; you look like you could use a decent nap," Leorio declared as he reached down and pulled Azalea to her feet.

Azalea scrunched up her nose and grimaced but didn't protest as the two teens steered her down the hall. Ten minutes and two hallways later, the three of them were camped out on a trio of futons in one of the small dorms. Azalea drifted off to sleep shortly after laying down despite her lingering irritation and fear; the past two days had taken quite a bit out of her despite the fact that she really hadn't done all that much physically when compared to all of the running that the other applicants had done.

She had expended a fair amount of magic though and she was more than a little wrung out emotionally due to constantly being put on edge every time she turned around. And that was on top of the grief and guilt that she was still suppressing.

She'd barely been asleep for ten minutes before she was pulled into one of Voldemort's visions; the first one since the Dark Lord had fed her the false vision of Sirius being tortured during her History of Magic O.W.L. Exam almost seven months earlier. She broke out into sweat as she tossed and turned restlessly in her sleep. Just seconds later, her scar split open as she began whimpering the moment her consciousness got caught up in the vision; drawing the attention of the two teens that had been trying to sleep just a few feet away from her.

Meanwhile, inside of Azalea's nightmare dream vision…

_Azalea stared out through the Dark Lord's eyes and felt a smile curl her lips as an agonized scream tore through the night. Turning, Azalea's gaze fell upon the broken body of Remus Lupin as Bellatrix tortured the werewolf with the Cruciatus Curse. Bile filled the back of Azalea's throat and her heart lurched to a stop as she witnessed the last link to her parents suffering at the hands of the woman that had killed her godfather. _

"_Enough, Bella," Voldemort ordered softly; the witch automatically obeying. "I will ask you one last time, werewolf, where has Dumbledore hidden the Potter girl?"_

"_Fuck you," Remus spat weakly as he coughed up blood. _

_Voldemort turned away from the man and looked into a mirror that was hanging off to his left so that Azalea was staring out at the reflection of the man that had hunted her since the day she'd been born as the Dark Lord addressed her, "I had so hoped that you would join us tonight, Harriet Potter. Tell me, are you enjoying the show? You know your loved ones would not have to suffer if you came to me of your own free will. If I have to hunt you down, you will only force me to torture and kill them all."_

_Voldemort then turned back to Remus's bloody form on the floor and raised his wand as he stated, "You are no longer of any use to me, werewolf; __**Avada Kedavra**__."_

_Green light filled Azalea's vision and engulfed Remus just seconds later and Azalea screamed in anger and anguish as the werewolf died the instant the spell washed over him._

"_**Remus**__!_" Azalea screamed as she bolted upright after tearing herself free from the vision. Her head exploded in pain a second later and her stomach rebelled violently. Unable to calm her cramping stomach, Azalea rolled forward onto her knees as she puked her guts out. Blood and tears streamed down her face as she sobbed out Remus's name several more times while slamming her fist on the floor several times as unending waves of anger, grief, guilt, and utter helplessness washed over her as the image of Remus's broken and lifeless body burned itself into the back of her mind.

"Was that you Mr. Doom and Gloom…? What happened? Are you alright?" Leorio asked worriedly as he sat up and peered at Azalea through the darkened room. "Oh shit, James, you're bleeding!"

"I'm fine," Azalea rasped hoarsely in response to the abrupt reminder that she wasn't alone. She immediately cut off her emotions (a habit left over from her years of living with the Dursleys), sat up, and wiped her face off as she added, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Azalea then used her body to block her hands as she used a wandless Vanishing Spell to clean up her mess before she shakily climbed to her feet. She staggered sideways and nearly fell back into the floor when the pain behind her scar unexpectedly stabbed deeper into her brain. She pressed the palm of her hand against her scar in the hopes that it would ease the pain (and stop the bleeding). It took a several seconds, but once it no longer felt like her skull was going to split in two, she leaned down to grab her book bag, glasses, and hat before weaving her way towards the door.

"Where are you going, James? You're not in any condition to be wandering around right now."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine; you're bleeding all over the place and can't even walk in a straight line."

"I'll live," Azalea replied in a weary tone as she glanced back at the older teen that had just climbed to his feet and the silent Kurapika who was sitting up and watching her now as well. "I always do."

The witch slipped out the door a moment later and groaned softly as the bright light filling the hallway seared into her brain and made her head hurt worse. Closing her eyes, Azalea leaned against the wall for a moment while she waited for the pain to dull again before she opened her eyes just enough to see where she was going as she searched for the nearest bathroom. Twenty-two minutes later, Azalea was leaning over a wash basin staring at her pale reflection as water dripped down her face. Her scar was still red and swollen and it stood out sharply against the paleness of her skin but it had at least finally stopped bleeding.

Now that she was no longer wrapped up in the vision, Azalea found herself worrying over whether or not the vision had been true or if it had been another false vision like the one Voldemort had shown her about Sirius. Half of her wanted to rush back to England to find out for herself but the other half of her kept reminding the rest of her that she needed more training. Sure, she'd learned to cast several spells wandlessly and wordlessly during the months she spent on the ship as well as increasing her repertoire of spells but she was still far too weak to face Voldemort.

Disgusted with herself, Azalea pushed away from the sink, slipped her glasses on her face, and left the bathroom to wander through the mostly empty corridors of the airship. She eventually ended up in the outermost hallway sitting on top of one of the small counters that ran beneath the windows lining the hallway. She then leaned back against the small divider that separated each window from its neighbors and stared down at the twinkling lights of some nameless city as she limply held her hat in her hands (her scar still far too sensitive for her to wear it).

After a while, Azalea pressed her forehead against the cold glass of the window and closed her eyes as she struggled to figure out what she should do; return home to warn the others and fight even though she'd not finished the exam or stay to finish the exam and potentially leave her friends to face Voldemort's wrath alone. Her troubled introspection was interrupted just a few minutes later when Gon and Killua laughingly spilled into the hallway as they were chased out of the kitchen by one of the airship's cooks.

Azalea cringed and reluctantly glanced in their direction as both twelve year olds caught sight of her a few seconds later and called out her alias in stereo as they bounded over to her, "James!"

"Are you alright, James? I can smell blood, are you hurt?" Gon asked worriedly as he skidded to a halt beside the sixteen year old. "Did someone attack you?"

"I'm fine," Azalea replied automatically as she avoided meeting Gon's eyes.

"Why do you look so pale?" Killua asked as he narrowed his eyes slightly. Azalea huffed in annoyance and turned back to face the window without saying a word. Ignoring the question only served to further annoy the boy as he petulantly declared, "You are so annoying."

"Said the kettle to the pot," Azalea tossed back as she glanced at Killua's reflection in the window.

"Where did Hedwig go, James?" Gon inquired as he glanced up and down the hallway.

"She's outside."

"Why do you have an owl anyway?" Killua demanded as he sat down on the bench that was situated in front of the window ledge where Azalea was sitting.

"She was a gift."

"What kind of person gives someone an owl for a present?"

"The best kind," Azalea replied softly as a fond smile briefly flittered across her face as she thought about Hagrid before the grief of leaving her friends behind and her worry about whether or not they were safe crashed down on her again.

Silence fell over the three of them at that point and Azalea let her eyes fall closed as she pressed her still aching scar to the cold window again. She was drifting in and out of sleep when Gon and Killua began chatting once more; Gon asking the other boy about his parents. Azalea's breath hitched briefly when she heard Killua state that he came from an entire family of assassins and that the rest of his family fully expected him to be an assassin. She relaxed slightly when the pale haired boy declared that he didn't want to be an assassin and that he hated killing before going into a full out rebellious rant over the fact that his family had been trying to tell him who he was supposed to be.

'_If Gon is the epitome of a Gryffindor, then Killua is Slytherin personified. The nosy little brat would give Draco a run for his money and make the little ferret piss his pants to boot,_' Azalea thought to herself as she opened her eyes to study both boys in the reflection of the glass only to catch sight of Chairman Netero watching the three of them from the hallway just a few feet to the right of where they were sitting.

A flash of _something_ filled the area and all three of the applicants stiffened the moment they sensed it. Gon and Killua both jumped to their feet and turned to face the hallway where Netero had been standing. Azalea on the other hand had seen the man vanish just after he'd done whatever it was that he'd done and she discreetly palmed her wand to cast _Homenum Revelio_ and discovered that the man was walking up to them from behind her.

"Is there something wrong boys?" Netero inquired in a tone that Azalea had long since learned to associate with Fred and George Weasley when they were planning a particularly good prank.

"Hey, Mr. Netero, did you see anyone over there just now?" Gon asked as he pointed towards the hallway where Azalea had just seen Netero watching them from.

"No."

_Not exactly a lie,_ _since it is hard to see yourself without a mirror or other reflective surface on hand,_ Azalea thought as she tightened her hold on her wand; the witch felt extremely antsy in the presence of the chairman thanks to the earlier quasi-interrogation the man had put her through. Her disgust over Tonpa's most recent attempt at bullying, her acute displeasure over having garnered Hisoka's attention without trying, and the lingering uneasiness she felt over the latest vision that Voldemort had sent her only added to her disquiet.

"You're pretty fast for an old man," Killua declared as he narrowed his eyes slightly and Azalea nearly snorted in amusement.

"Oh? You saw that little trick did you?" Netero countered playfully (the amusement in his voice telling Azalea that he was probably wearing a smile) before he walked into Azalea's line of sight and addressed the witch next. "You're looking a little under the weather, young _man_; you should be resting."

"I was resting," Azalea retorted with a soft snort as she turned away from the chairman, her stomach twisting up in knots over the way the man had emphasized the word man; the witch worried that he knew she'd lied about her gender. "And then you turned up."

"What did you want, old man?" Killua demanded as he glanced between Azalea and Netero several times while the old man chuckled over Azalea's response.

"You don't have to be so rude young man. I was merely looking for a little entertainment to occupy myself with until we reached our destination. That reminds me, I have a question for the three of you."

Azalea jerked around so fast that she dumped herself off of the counter at the man's seemingly casual declaration that he wanted to ask them something and hit her left hip hard as she landed on the floor. Hissing in pain over her bruised hip, Azalea scrambled back up onto her feet and danced backwards as she turned so her right side was facing away from the chairman so that the man wouldn't see the wand she held firmly in her hand. She swiped her left arm over her brow to wipe away the sweat that had sprung forth as she worried what else the man wanted to know; unintentionally baring her lightning bolt scar to all three of those in the hall with her.

"You should be more careful, young man," Netero stated as his eyes briefly flicked up to Azalea's forehead before meeting her gaze. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"I'm fine," Azalea muttered as she reached up and smoothed her fringe back down over her scar as she silently cursed herself for a fool for not being more careful. She tore her gaze away from the old man's and desperately searched for her hat only to find Gon holding it out for her as the twelve year old had picked it up off the floor. Azalea accepted the hat back and jammed it onto her head (wincing as the leather brim scrapped over her still sensitive scar) and rasped out a soft, "Thanks."

"That is good to know, I suppose," Netero stated with a slight frown that quickly disappeared beneath a smile. "Anyway, I wanted to know what the three of you thought about your first attempt at the Hunter Examination."

"It's been really fun!" Gon exclaimed as he turned back to face the chairman. "I was really dreading the exam at first because I was worried that there would be a written test."

"I'm bored of the exam already," Killua complained right after Gon finished. "I was expecting the exam to be much harder."

"What about you, young man; what do you think of the exam?" Netero prompted when Azalea didn't immediately offer her opinion.

"There're far too many annoying people involved."

Both Gon and Killua glanced at Azalea before they turned to look at each other and burst into laughter. Azalea snorted, rolled her eyes, and shook her head in response to their antics before she put her wand away and began walking away in the hopes that she could find herself a little privacy. The laughter cut off just seconds later as the two boys hurried to catch up to her.

"Don't go just yet," Chairman Netero requested before they'd gone very far. "I was wondering if the three of you would like to play a game with me."

"A game?" Gon repeated with unfeigned interest. "What kind of game?"

"A rather fun game and if you can defeat me, I will wave the need for you to take the rest of the exam and see to it that all three of you are given your Hunter Licenses."

"Really?" Gon demanded as his eyes filled with determination. "I want to play!"

"Perfect!" Netero crowed as he smiled again before he looked passed Gon to glance between Azalea and Killua. "How about it, you two; are either of you interested in playing as well?"

Azalea scowled; as tempting as it was to make an attempt to bypass the rest of the test, she wasn't sure she wanted to play because she didn't trust the man. She didn't get a chance to turn down the offer though as Gon grabbed hold of her sleeve and began dragging her back towards Netero. Killua let out a soft sigh and Azalea got the impression that the kid hadn't actually wanted to play either but would do so because of Gon. Netero practically beamed at the three of them as he turned around and led them through the ship to a large empty room with padded walls.

Gon didn't let go of Azalea until they were inside the room and the witch jammed her hands into her pocket as Netero pulled off his white and blue top to reveal the loose black tank top he'd been wearing underneath. The man then produced a yellow and black ball that he balanced on the finger of his left hand as he explained the rules of the game. Or rather, he gave them the only rule of the game; to take the ball from him before they reached their destination.

When the man told them that they were free to attack him however they wished in their efforts to take the ball, Azalea felt a rock form in the pit of her stomach as she realized that the man wanted to see what they could do. The two twelve year olds seemed a bit skeptical about the 'game' as well but Netero simply told them to try it first before deciding that it wasn't worth it.

Just before they started, Azalea spoke up for the first time since she'd answered the man's earlier question about the exam to ask, "What happens if we fail to take the ball? Are we going to be disqualified from the exam?"

"Oh, heavens no; I'm merely giving the three of you a chance to finish early," Netero quickly assured them when both Gon and Killua jumped a bit at the unexpected question. "If you don't beat me, then you simply have to finish the rest of the exam alongside the rest of the applicants."

Killua went first and Azalea didn't pay any attention as she stared down at the floor and thought about how she was going to play; if she was going to play. She shook her head and scowled; she would play, even if she didn't want to. The smallest chance that she could earn her Hunter's License now and not have to waste more time running through the exam was too great to pass up (even though she'd originally considered not playing the game despite the potential reward).

The only question that remained was; how much of her skills was she willing to reveal to Netero, Killua, and Gon in order to play?

She glanced up in time to see Killua attempt to take out the old man's right leg (the man currently balancing on one foot) and Azalea thought for sure the younger boy had him until Killua grabbed his own leg and began complaining about the pain. Azalea furrowed her brow and started paying closer attention as Gon and Killua changed places and Gon attempted to attack the old man head on before suddenly jumping up so high he smacked his head on the ceiling. Azalea palmed her face over Gon's mistake before she snorted and silently though, '_Yep, definitely a Gryffindor,_' as Gon got up a minute later and immediately attacked the man again.

After a few more minutes of failed attacks, Gon attempted to switch out with Azalea but the witch told Killua to take another turn instead; she need more time to decide what she was going to do. That and she really wanted to study the old man a bit longer; to see what the man was capable of doing.

An hour later, Azalea still hadn't taken a turn and Gon and Killua were both sweating and panting heavily from their failed efforts to capture the ball. Gon had even stripped off his jacket and tossed it aside while Killua had peeled off the white t-shirt he wore over his dark blue turtleneck. During that time, Azalea had noted that Netero never used his left leg or his right arm to block the boys' attacks. She also hadn't failed to see that all three of them were far more physically fit than Azalea was; meaning that Azalea would have no real advantage outside of her magic.

"This is starting to get boring," Netero suddenly declared as both Killua and Gon stopped to catch their breath. "Why don't the three of you try attacking me all at once? It's about time your other friend started playing along anyway; seeing as how he's not bothered to join it at all yet."

"I was curious to see what you could do," Azalea stated with a shrug as she slipped off her book bag and set it on the floor beside the door before she began buttoning up her dragon-hide cloak over the blue t-shirt she was wearing so that the edges of the cloak wouldn't get in the way.

She then moved up away from the wall and settled into a defensive dueler's stance with her right foot forward, the right side of her body angled towards Netero, her left arm curled up so that her hand was nearly touching her hat (for balance), and her right arm held straight out in front of her with her palm facing outwards. Azalea then closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before she pulled on her magic and prepared to use a few of the wandless spells that she'd been able to fully master since she had no desire to reveal her status as a full-fledged witch to the chairman.

She also feared that if she used her wand during the game the amount of magic she could potentially end up using would disable the entire airship because magic and technology didn't usually mix very well.

"Ready when you are," Azalea stated as she opened her eyes to reveal emerald irises that glittered with dozens of golden dust motes of pure magic from the shadows beneath her hat; a side effect of teaching herself how to cast wandlessly due to the amount of magic flowing through her body increasing each time she cast a spell without using a focus – her blood slowly attuning itself to her magic so that it could one day completely take the place of her wand.

Gon let out a laugh and promptly attacked with Killua joining in at the last second from another direction. Azalea in the mean time kept her eyes on Netero (who'd not taken his eyes off of Azalea) and waited for the perfect moment to attack. Just before the old man made to dodge the twin attacks that the younger boys had launched, Azalea flicked and snapped her wrist to cast a wandless sticking charm on Netero's right foot that prevented him from jumping out of the way of the twin attack. The man's eyes widened comically before he broke free of the weak charm at the last second; which resulted in Gon and Killua colliding into one another face first.

Azalea merely smirked and made a grabbing motion with her right fingers as she pulled the hand back towards her to cast a wandless summoning spell. Netero's eyebrows rose in surprise even as he snatched the ball back out of the air before Azalea's spell could completely capture it. By that time, both boys had recovered and returned to attack Netero in turns one right after the other in order to avoid banging into each other again. Azalea continued to use an assortment of sticking charms and summoning charms in an effort to trip the man up and break the ball away from him.

After another hour had passed, Azalea added in wandless banishing charms and a freezing spell to shove the ball out of the man's grasp and further hinder his footing as she felt herself growing annoyed by the lack of success. Both boys had continuously moved about the room as they attacked Netero while Azalea never moved more than a foot from where she started and that was only to dodge Gon and Killua whenever the old man would toss one of them at Azalea in an attempt to knock the witch over.

At the end of the third hour, Azalea started throwing out weak stinging hexes as well in order to irritate the man even as she started to struggle with her wandless casting as she inevitably grew exhausted. Her shirt and pants were soaked in sweat by that time and even her cloak clung to her uncomfortably due to the charms struggling to keep up with her exertions (wizards were not the most active of individuals, after all). Her hat had been knocked off at some point and her short hair was even messier than usual as it stuck to her face and the back of her neck because of the sweat.

And her right hand and arm burned from the sheer amount of magic she'd used. Panting, Azalea tried to catch her breath as she watched Gon attack Netero straight on with a kick. Just when it looked like the kid would miss, he kicked off his shoe and caught the man under the chin while Killua landed a hit on the back of his head and lunged for the ball.

Netero used his foot to kick the ball away from the boy and Azalea used the opportunity to cast another summoning charm at the ball in order to keep Netero from getting his hands on it again. Gon then kicked his other shoe at the ball in order to send it flying towards the opposite wall and both twelve year olds dove at it. They were just about to catch the ball when Netero blasted between them and caught the ball at the last second while Gon and Killua both went flying in opposite directions.

Azalea groaned and dropped down onto her knees; the witch completely and utterly spent and more than a little pissed at herself for not being stronger or sneakier. Propping her hands on her knees, Azalea bowed her head and bit back the scream of frustration she felt rising inside while trying to avoid giving into the temptation to pull out her wand in order to stun or bind the man so she could take the ball. The problem was that she didn't have enough strength left to stun a house fly and she was frightened of what would happen to her should the man see her using her wand.

Killua quit the game at that point, loudly stating that the old man was just playing with them as he pointed out the same thing that Azalea had noticed earlier; the old man hadn't even bothered using his right arm or left leg. Killua tried to get Gon to leave with him but Gon stayed as he declared that he no longer cared about getting the ball; he just wanted to make Netero use his right arm. Killua snorted in disbelief and shook his head before he stalked off muttering under his breath about weirdos.

"Are you going to stay as well, James?" Gon asked as he bounded over to Azalea's side. "Why do you look all pasty gray? Are you sick? Maybe you should go get some rest; you don't look so good."

"I'm fine," Azalea insisted despite the fact that she knew she wasn't; it was an ingrained response though and one she'd give even if she knew she was dying.

Gon looked skeptical but he didn't say another word as his attention was soon drawn back to Netero who'd begun bouncing the ball in his left hand. Azalea simply sat back on her heels and watched while she tried to catch her breath; she was far too exhausted to help Gon at the moment and the kid looked as if he was having far too much fun anyway. Thirty minutes later, Gon had just succeeded in his self assigned task of making Netero use his right hand (getting himself knocked out in the process) when Azalea was suddenly hit with Voldemort's fury.

Physically, magically and emotionally exhausted as she was, Azalea had no protection against the Dark Lord's invading emotions and she let out a sharp cry when her scar split open once more. Her hands flew up to her face to clasp her head as her blood poured over her hands and down her face. It was sheer agony for Azalea and she dropped forward so that her head touched the ground and let out another cry as Voldemort's anger continued to grow and rip through her mind.

The last thing she saw before she passed out from the pain was Netero's concerned face as the old man leaned down to roll her over so he could see at her face.

* * *

**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	7. Hospitals x and x Histories

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Seven: Hospitals x and x Histories

Azalea came to several hours later and groaned as her head began throbbing the moment she moved it. She reached up to press her hand to her head and froze when she found her forehead swathed in bandages. She frowned a moment later when she noted that she was feeling far colder than she should given the fact that she had been wearing her dragon-hide cloak. She was also vaguely aware of something pinching her left hand. Opening her eyes, Azalea groaned again as she stared up at the blurry white walls and ceiling of what could only be a hospital room.

She'd spent enough time in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts and in the Nurse's Office at primary school to recognize the sight, feel, and scent of a hospital room (even an unfamiliar one).

Pushing herself up, Azalea winced as her head throbbed again and she scowled as she glanced down to find that she had been striped out of her clothes and dressed in nothing but a thin cotton hospital gown and thin cotton pants. The pinching in her left hand turned out to be an IV needle that was attached to a bag of saline solution. A search of her immediate surroundings turned profitable as she located her glasses sitting on the small table beside the bed and she quickly slipped them on her face. Vision restored, Azalea soon found her things neatly stacked on the chair beside the table and she blanched when she noticed her wand sitting innocently enough near the very top of the stack beneath her leather fedora.

"How are you feeling, kid?"

Azalea whipped around to stare at the man that had addressed her. He was tall, with light brown hair liberally peppered with gray and white, pale hazel eyes that were open and friendly, and a pencil thin mustache over full lips. He was also wearing a white lab coat over mint green scrubs; indicating that the man was either a doctor or a nurse.

"How did I get here?" Azalea asked instead of answering the man's question. "And who are you?"

"I'm Doctor Neil Mackle and Chairman Netero brought you to me after you collapsed from blood loss and severe exhaustion. Are you still in any pain?"

"I'm fine."

"Pull the other one kid, it has bells on."

"I am fine, just a mild headache; I've had worse," Azalea insisted as she frowned up at the doctor.

"Some how that doesn't surprise me," Dr. Mackle dryly retorted as he fished out a small one dose packet of pain killers from his pocket and handed it to Azalea. "Take that, it will help your headache; make sure you drink at least a full glass of water with it so you don't upset your stomach. Or, if you prefer, I can get you a bowl of soup or porridge first so that you aren't taking it on an empty stomach."

"How much time until we reach the location for the next phase of the exam?" Azalea asked as she stared down at the foil pack of two pills labeled as Tylenol.

"Just over two hours and no, those won't knock you back out; so, you don't have to worry about missing Phase Three."

Azalea sighed softly and deftly used her teeth to open the little packet before tossing both pills into her mouth and swallowing them dry. The doctor blinked at her in surprise before rolling his eyes and gesturing to the pitcher of water sitting on the table beside the bed. Azalea huffed but obediently poured herself out a glass of water and drank it down while the doctor removed the IV, pressed a small cotton ball to the tiny wound, and secured the cotton in place with a strip of clear tape.

"Now that that's taken care of, there are a couple of questions I'd like to ask you."

"What did you want to know?" Azalea asked warily as her eyes tracked the clipboard that the man had brandished at her as he made his declaration.

"Have you ever injured your right arm aside from the wound that caused your scar?"

"I broke it once."

"How old were you when that happened?"

"Twelve."

"Ah, thank you. Next question; are you up to date on all of your childhood immunizations?"

"Um… I don't know. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No. If you give me the name of your family doctor I can contact him or her and get your medical records faxed to me so I can check them myself."

"I don't have one."

"Oh. Now that might be a problem. Did your parents take you to a clinic when you were sick then?"

"My parents are dead and I was never sick growing up."

"I see. Well, if you pass the Exam you can expect to be given a full course of vaccinations then; it is required for all Hunters because we often end up exposed to a wide assortment of germs, bacteria, and viruses during the course of our duties."

"Oh. Okay."

"Good. Next question; do you know what kind of snake it was that bit you?"

"Um… snake?" Azalea asked nervously as she immediately thought of the basilisk from her second year.

"Yes, your blood contained an abnormally high concentration of antibodies associated with a reptilian antivenin but I was unable to determine what kind of snake it was that bit you. I need to make note of the creature in your file in case there are complications later down the line or in the event that you are bit again at some point."

"It was big, ugly, and angry," Azalea replied after a few minutes. "I can't tell you what it was though."

"Can't be helped I suppose. Can you at least tell me when and where it bit you?"

"I was twelve and it bit my right arm."

"Was that before or after you broke your arm?"

"After. Was that all you needed?"

"Yes, we're finished now, kid," Dr. Mackle replied as he finished writing down Azalea's answers and lowered the clipboard to study the teen for a moment. He then shook his head and stated, "You strike me as type of person that dislikes hospitals and doctors in general so feel free to change back into your personal clothes while I go put together your release forms so you can be on your way."

"Thanks," Azalea murmured in relief as she gingerly slipped off of the bed and gave her legs a moment to adjust to holding her weight before she crossed over to the chair after the doctor pulled the dividing curtain around the bed to give her some privacy before he walked off.

The first thing she did was inspect her wand to make certain that it hadn't been tampered with before she dove into her bag to get a clean set of clothes since she'd been wearing the other ones since they'd disembarked from the boat two or three days earlier. This time she chose a pair of black jeans, a red undershirt, and a deep gold button up shirt. She then tucked her wand into the left sleeve where it was both safe and out of sight before she sat down to put on her socks and boots.

She reached up and took off the bandages wrapped around her forehead next and dumped them into the trash can; already knowing there was no need for the protection because her scar had long since stopped bleeding. She was just shrugging on her dragon-hide cloak when the doctor returned carrying a thicker than expected packet of papers. The friendly doctor then spent the next twenty minutes going over each and every form in the stack as he had Azalea sign her name in multiple places, place her initials in other spots, and fill out the various sections that the doctor hadn't been able to complete because she'd been unconscious at the time she'd been brought in.

Lastly, the doctor handed her copies of the forms she'd just signed along with a large handful of the single dose packets of Tylenol with instructions to take one pack (or two pills) every six to eight hours until her headache (and any other pain she was feeling but refused to acknowledge) faded. The man then kicked Azalea out of the Infirmary and told her to stay out as long as humanly possible.

Azalea gaped at the closed door in shock as Dr. Mackle was the complete opposite of Madam Pomfrey who would practically glue her patients to the bed for days or weeks at a time over a splinter. She then shook her head and let out a soft laugh as she decided that she much preferred Dr. Mackle's approach over Madam Pomfrey's. Sighing, Azalea slung her book bag over her shoulder and tucked her hands into pockets as she wandered off down the hall.

* * *

Netero watched 'James' wander off down the hall from where he'd stopped in the shadows the moment the door to the infirmary had opened and the young lady he'd come to check on had been pushed out the door by Dr. Mackle. Once the teen had disappeared from sight, the aged Hunter sighed and headed into the infirmary where he found Dr. Mackle making notes in what the chairman knew would be the medical file of the young lady that had just left.

He waited for the doctor to finish writing before he cleared his throat and asked, "Well?"

"Whoever raised her ought to be drawn and quartered," Dr. Mackle groused as he glanced up from the file and scowled at the older man. "The x-rays you ordered me to take confirmed your suspicion that the girl had gone through frequent periods of prolonged malnutrition and possible starvation that lasted anywhere from two days to two weeks at a time throughout her early childhood. She's damn lucky that she only ended up physically stunted with a slightly weakened bone structure when it could have been far worse."

"She's been eating better for at least the last five years but there is evidence that she still does not eat as much as she should or as often as she should with two month long periods of time where her diet drops back to what it was during her childhood. The oddest thing I discovered when I was reviewing her x-rays was that the bones in her right arm are several years younger than the rest of the bones in her body. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say her right arm is only about four years old while the rest of her is sixteen."

"It boggles the mind; I mean really, who ever heard of someone growing an arm later in life? The bones in that arm are also much stronger than the rest of the bones in her body; as if they never suffered through the long years of malnutrition that the rest of her body had. I'd almost be tempted to say the arm was transplanted but there is no sign of a surgical scar and that arm carries the same D.N.A. structure as the rest of her body; I checked. She did say she broke that arm when she was twelve but that wouldn't explain the age difference."

"What else did you learn about her?"

"She never received her childhood immunizations nor has she ever caught any of the normal childhood diseases as she lacks the antibodies for the most common ones such as Chicken Pox. That in itself is rather unusual as she should have been highly susceptible to those diseases due to the frequent malnutrition; since a lack of a proper diet should have left her with a weakened immune system. There were a small handful of antibodies that I could not identify; though they were fairly similar to those you'd expect to find for the common childhood diseases. When asked, she claimed ignorance on the matter and assured me that she'd never been sick growing up."

"If that weren't odd enough, I also found an exceedingly high concentration of a powerful antivenin running through her blood; meaning she had at some point been bitten by a venomous snake. I have not yet pinpointed what species of snake it was that she encountered but I do know that it was deadly and that its venom was made up of a combination of both neurotoxins and cytotoxins based upon the types of antibodies present in the antivenin. I also found no physical evidence of a snake bite and suspect the delivery of the snake venom was not through natural means."

"Did you question the young lady about the snake before you released her?"

"Yes. She grew exceedingly nervous about it and claimed she didn't know what it was that bit her. She told me that it was big, ugly, and angry but gave no actual description. Coincidentally, she claimed that the snake also bit her on the right arm around the same time as she broke her arm. I'd hazard a guess that she knows more than she claims and that she is also frightened of the truth getting out; which leads me to believe that the one responsible is still at large."

"If she passes the exam we can address the matter with her again. What else do you have to report?"

"I analyzed her scars as you requested but was only able to identify the cause of roughly half of them. The scar on her forehead appears to have been carved with a knife and the surrounding tissue samples indicated that she has had it for more than a decade. I was unable to find an underlying cause as to why it ripped opened the way it did but based upon the way the kid automatically reached for it upon waking, I'd say that is a familiar occurrence."

"The gouge in the crook of her elbow was caused by a crude and unsanitized blade and is less than two years old. The marks on the back of her left shoulder are difficult to place as they look like claw marks but the number, size, and shape is inconsistent with any animal I am familiar with. They are also far too jagged to have been caused by a normal blade, though I suppose it could have been a rough made tool of some sort that caused them."

"And the scar on the back of her hand?"

"That one is the oddest of all. It looks as if someone actually carved the words into her hand with the sharp nib of a calligraphy pen. The varying thicknesses of the lines and the way they loop and cling together would have been impossible to create with a penknife or even a scalpel. They are also far deeper than I expected them to be despite the fact that they are so neatly placed; as if the words had been carved over and over again in the exact same place. The most troubling thing is that the handwriting of the scar is a near match for the girl's handwriting though the differences may be attributed to the use of different writing mediums as a pen does not form letters the same way as a nib would."

"That is troubling indeed. The words chosen and her obvious reluctance to speak of the scar in the first place were just as disturbing. Though, to be fair, she hadn't wanted to speak of any of her scars. Was there anything else?"

"Yes, her brain activity was unexpectedly high while she was unconscious and the percentage of the brain she utilized rapidly increased in two point five unit increments from the moment she first began regaining consciousness. As you know, normal humans utilize roughly ten percent of their brain while conscious and most of those that become Hunters use twice that amount; she was using fifteen percent while unconscious."

"The moment she became conscious it jumped up to seventeen point five percent, it jumped up to an even twenty when she moved her hand to touch her head, and then to twenty-two point five the moment she opened her eyes. By the time I spoke to her, she was utilizing twenty-five percent of her brain and I got the impression that something was blocking her from using her brain to the fullest."

"And last, but by no means least, the girl's body heals itself at a phenomenal rate as I witnessed the scar on her forehead seal itself shut over a matter of seconds not long after you delivered her to me. She should have been unconscious for at least another eight to twelve hours given how much blood she'd lost by the time you brought her to me when coupled with the level of sheer exhaustion I could feel radiating from her and yet she was only out for roughly six hours."

"Remarkable."

"You will send her to see me again for a complete physical if she passes the Exam?" Dr. Mackle half inquired and half ordered.

"Yes, I will have to, seeing as how she claimed that she'd never before been to see a doctor for a complete check up. Do try not to frighten her away with an inordinate amount of testing when that time comes, Dr. Mackle; she's skittish enough as it is."

The good doctor just waved the chairman off as he walked away, the man already compiling a list of tests he planned to run the young lady through the moment he got his hands on the girl again. Netero almost regretted bringing the girl to the man's attention as Mackle had a tendency to hound those patients that caught his attention but he'd been disturbed by what had happened to the small teen.

He wasn't certain if it was the sheer amount of agony he could hear in the young lady's voice or the sheer volume of blood pouring from her head that had disturbed him more. He was at least thankful that Ging's son had knocked himself out prior to whatever fit it was that young lady had had since he suspected the younger boy would have grown defensive over the teen based upon the way the child tended to hover over the older girl.

As he left the Infirmary, Netero reflected on everything that he'd learned about the recalcitrant teen that had drawn the attention of examiners and applicants alike. The old man also couldn't help the thread of worry that had filled him from the moment he'd seen and recognized the jagged scar upon the girl's brow. The moment he had seen that scar, he'd known exactly who it was that was standing before him; though, if he were honest with himself, he'd suspected she was a witch from the moment he'd first seen the girl's vivid green eyes amongst the crowd of applicants when he intervened during the second task.

Watching the young lady recklessly rise and fall with the updrafts at the top of Mt. Split-in-Half had been yet another clue as it was patently obvious to anyone that had ever seen a mage fly that the girl was using a broom to pull off her tricks. It had been because of that stunt that Netero had chosen to question the girl himself instead of letting one of the examiners handle filling out her application. Drawing out her answers had been like pulling teeth from an angry bear without the benefit of a sedative to subdue the bear. He knew the teen had been annoyed with him after that; it had been quite obvious.

Netero next let his thoughts turn back to the three and a half hours he'd spent playing around with the young lady and the two boys and he couldn't help but smirk.

He knew he'd annoyed the young Zoldyck; he'd done it on purpose to see if the child had any self control and he'd been impressed when the boy had chosen to quit and walk away instead of attempting to kill him in anger (though he knew the child had been the one to kill the two applicants that had been found dead in the hallways – after the two older men had provoked him further according to the surveillance video). Ging's young son had impressed him as well; the child's determination to reach his self assigned goal had been a sight to see.

But the witch, she had utterly surprised him when she'd cleverly resorted to using wandless magic in her efforts to capture the ball after spending the first hour analyzing his moves.

That reminder of the child's remarkable ability brought Netero's thoughts back around full circle and he paused to watch the passing landscape as he softly asked himself, "What could have driven that young lady to the Hunter Association, when by rights she should have been safely ensconced at Hogwarts under Dumbledore's thumb? What could a powerful half-trained witch like Harriet Potter need from us that she couldn't have gotten from the rest of the magicals? Maybe it is time we pay a visit to the various magical societies spread throughout the world to insure that they are upholding their part of the treaty we signed with them after the fiasco that Gellert Grindelwald unleashed upon Europe."

* * *

Azalea eventually found herself in the Dining Hall an hour and a half after leaving the Infirmary and after a moment's hesitation, she set about fixing herself a small plate of fresh fruit, sausages, and toast before finding a seat off in the corner. She ate rather mechanically as she fretted over the vision she'd had the night before and the anger she'd felt from the Dark Lord just a few hours after the vision. She'd eaten about half of what she'd served herself when she came to the conclusion that she was either going to have to quit the exam so she could go home and find out what was going on or she needed to write a letter and send it off with Hedwig and pray her owl could quickly and safely make it to England and back in order to get some answers.

"Good morning, Mr. Doom and Gloom! I must say you're looking much better than you did last night," Leorio loudly announced as he spotted Azalea sitting in the shadows all alone.

"Good morning, James," Kurapika offered a few minutes later as both teens joined Azalea at her table. "Do you know if Gon and Killua are alright? We haven't seen either of the two boys since they took off to explore the airship last night."

"They should be fine," Azalea replied as she paused mid-bite and tried to recall what had happened to both boys. She frowned a bit when she realized she had no clue what had happened to either one of them after she'd passed out. "I was with them for at least four hours but Killua stalked off after he got angry at Chairman Netero over the stupid game and I don't know what happened to Gon after I fell unconscious."

"Game? What game?" Leorio asked in confusion while at the same time Kurapika demanded, "What do you mean you fell unconscious? What happened? Did Hisoka or Tonpa attack you?"

"Chairman Netero challenged the three of us to a game with the prize being our Hunter's Licenses if we won. All we had to do was take the ball from him. I think his intention was to see what we were capable of doing rather than seriously looking to pass us early. He's ridiculously strong and even when all three of us were working together, we couldn't take the ball from him; he was bloody annoying too. And no, I haven't seen the ugly toad or the creep since the confrontation last night."

"Wait, wait, wait… are you saying that you were given a chance to skip the last half of the Exam!?" Leorio hissed as he slammed his hand down on the table.

"Doesn't matter; we failed it anyway."

"If you weren't attacked, how did you end up unconscious?" Kurapika inquired after he kicked Leorio under the table when it looked like the taller man was going to lay into Azalea about the unfairness of the offer she'd had to pass early.

"I was a little tired."

"A little tired?"

"Are you really so desperate to get your Hunter's License that you risked seriously harming yourself to fight a full fledged Hunter?" Leorio asked softly. "You looked like shit last night, James. I knew I shouldn't have let Kurapika talk me in to letting you have a bit of space; only I was rather exhausted after all of the running we did in the First Phase and didn't put up as much of a protest as I should have."

"I don't have a choice."

"Why don't you have a choice?"

Azalea glanced away from both of the older teens and shook her head; her mind playing an endless loop of '_either must die at the hands of the other_' while she saw Cedric, Sirius, and Remus's deaths over and over again. She was startled out of her downward spiral by the intercom crackling to life as the voice of Beans announced their imminent arrival at the location of the Third Phase and urged all fifty-four remaining applicants to gather their belongings. Azalea frowned as she noted the number of applicants remaining had dropped by two before she pushed the matter out of her mind as she shoved her plate away and dug a quill, ink bottle, and parchment out from her bag as she finally reached her decision about what she needed to do.

Ignoring the questioning looks that the other two teens were giving her, Azalea opened the ink, dipped the nib into the bottle, and began hastily scrawling out a message to Fred and George; the two she believed would have the best chance of getting the information she was seeking.

_Gred and Forge, _

_I need to know what is happening back home. I saw Professor Lupin the same way  
that I saw your dad and Sirius and I'm worried about him. You-Know-Who is also  
looking to target the Ministry Six and those associated with them; please let the  
Order know. _

_You can send word back with Hedwig; she'll wait for it._

_Be careful guys.  
AP_

The moment she finished, she replaced the lid on the ink bottle, cleaned the excess ink from her quill, and waved the letter to dry the ink. She then rolled it up tight and returned everything to her book bag. Pulling out her wand, Azalea dropped both hands inside of the sack as if to search for something so she could hide her wand as she sealed the letter with several security charms to prevent a Death Eater from getting a hold of her message. Once that was finished, she tucked away her wand and pulled out a length of twine so she could secure the letter to Hedwig's leg once she was outside.

By that time, the airship had landed and all of the remaining applicants were advised to exit the ship. Azalea snagged the last two sausages from her plate and took off running towards the exit. Kurapika and Leorio scrambled to hurry after her; both of them had been caught off guard by Azalea's strange (to them) behavior. The three of them were amongst the last to leave the blimp and Azalea barely spared a glance at the other applicants as she darted away from the crowd and let out a shrill, piercing whistle that drew everyone's attention to her.

She let out a second, longer whistle when Hedwig didn't immediately drop down to join her and she began to fear that something might have happened to her. Her fears were relieved just seconds later as the owl came barreling up from behind her and knocked her hat off with her wing as she landed on her shoulder. Laughing softly, she coaxed her down onto her arm as she praised her while making certain that she was alright; feeding her bites of the sausage she'd brought with her since she knew that Hedwig would not have bothered stopping to hunt during the flight.

"Hey gorgeous, I know you must be tired but I need you to take a letter to the troublesome twins for me. It's important that you get it to them as quickly as you can and that you wait for a reply before you return. Don't let anyone else take it and don't let anyone see you, girl," Azalea murmured as she affixed the letter to Hedwig's leg once both pieces of sausage were gone. She then slipped out her wand to cast the Disillusionment Charm over the owl in order to help hide her on her journey while using her body to block what she was doing from the other applicants. Hedwig barked irritably as the spell washed over her before she gently nipped Azalea on the nose and took flight once more; her wings stirring Azalea's hair as she rose up into the air as the witch called out a soft, "Safe journey, girl."

She stared off in the direction she felt her leave in and prayed that she hadn't just sent her faithful familiar to her death before she leaned down to pick up her hat up off the ground. Azalea had barely straightened up before she was tackled from behind by a cheerful Gon while Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio watched from a distance. Settling her hat back into place on her head, Azalea absently patted Gon on the head; something that pleased the twelve year old to no end as it was the first time the witch had initiated any physical contact with the boy (not counting when she'd helped him up off the floor or up onto her broom during the First Phase).

"Come on, they're going to explain the Third Phase now," Gon declared as he let go of Azalea's waist and grabbed hold of her sleeve so he could drag her back towards where all of the other contestants were waiting. The other three openly laughed at her when they saw the look of resignation that had settled on Azalea's face. Azalea mentally sighed as she began to suspect that Gon would continue to drag her from place to place no matter what.

"Welcome to the top of Trick Tower and the starting point for Phase Three," Beans stated once the two of them had fallen into place beside the others. "In order to pass this part of the Exam, you must reach the base of the tower alive within the seventy-two hour time limit. If there are no questions, we will begin the Third Phase now." Several of the applicants began muttering under their breath but when no one actually spoke out with any questions, Beans smiled at them as he gave his parting words, "I wish you all luck and will pray for your health."

Azalea and the four companions that she'd somehow managed to pick up watched as Beans returned to the airship. The huge blimp then lifted off the tower's top a minute later and Azalea glanced around to find all of the other applicants glancing nervously at each other and the edges of the tower. Gon and Killua both hurried to the closest edge and peered over the side with Azalea, Kurapika, and Leorio following after them after a brief hesitation. Azalea let out a whistle of appreciation as she tried to judge the distance from the top of the tower to the base.

They were still staring over the side of the tower when the applicant wearing badge number eighty-six lowered himself down over the side and began climbing down using nothing but his hands. Two minutes later, four giant red and pink beasts with huge mouths filled with sharp teeth and humanoid faces plucked the man off the wall and carried him off. All five of the teens swallowed thickly as they shared a quick, nervous glance.

"You know, I'd been hoping for another chance to fly but I think it's far too early in the morning for my feet to leave the ground," Killua deadpanned as he followed the monsters' flight.

"What's to stop them from plucking us off the top of the tower?" Azalea softly inquired as she returned her gaze back to the ground below. "Those creatures had to have been trained to only guard the walls of the tower or else we'd have been turned into snacks the moment we were dropped onto the tower. So there is a slight chance that the ones carried off are simply being escorted back to Zaban City or some other place from which they can be sent off on their way. I doubt that many people actually die during the exams or otherwise there wouldn't be as many applicants each year as there are."

"Are you willing to bet your life on that?" Leorio asked. "Or your Hunter's License?"

"We're already betting our lives and our licenses on that," Azalea countered as she glanced up to meet Leorio's gaze. "If we weren't, we sure as hell wouldn't be standing here now; would we?"

"So how are we going to get down?" Gon asked before Leorio could make a retort as he climbed to his feet.

* * *

**Notes:** Definitions

Cytotoxins – venom that attacks the cell tissues  
Neurotoxins – venom that attacks the nervous system

* * *

**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	8. Cheaters x Never x Prosper

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Eight: Cheaters x Never x Prosper

The five of them split up into two groups a few minutes later with Kurapika and Azalea meandering around the edge of the tower to see if there were stairs or another potential way down the outside of the tower while Leorio, Killua, and Gon began searching along the surface of the tower for any clues or hidden doors. Azalea was more than a little thankful for the reprieve from Leorio's brashness, Gon's cheerful enthusiasm, and Killua's uncomfortable prying. Every few steps, Azalea would crouch down and scan the side of the tower with a few spells using her wand (making certain to hide what she was doing with her body) while Kurapika trickled water over the edge in an effort to determine whether or not there were invisible or disguised stairs (since the water would be trapped mid-air if there was something hidden there).

After they'd covered roughly one quarter of the tower's circumference, Kurapika hesitantly broke the surprisingly comfortable silence that had sprung up between them, "Can I ask you something?"

"What about?" Azalea asked warily in return.

"Gon. Why do you allow him to keep dragging you back to the group when you obviously prefer your solitude?"

"It's complicated," Azalea replied after they moved onto the next section. "And I actually don't have a preference for solitude."

"What do you mean?"

Azalea didn't reply as she checked the next stretch of wall before she cast a wide area detection charm to make certain that there was no one standing near enough to overhear her. Another flick of her wand had a privacy bubble surrounding the two of them as she sat down on the edge of the cliff top and let her legs hang over the side. After a moment, the blond sat down just a few feet away from Azalea and glanced at her a couple of times; the slightly older teen patiently waiting for Azalea to answer the question.

"I'm an orphan; the last surviving member of an extraordinary family with a rather unique ability. What little I learned about my father's family over the past five years told me that most of my family was killed simply because of who they were, what they could do, and what they stood for. On top of that, my parents made powerful enemies of their own and there were other complications that would have made them targets even without those abilities. The moment I was born, there was a target painted on my head simply because of who my parents were and what they'd done. I'm sure you can imagine what happens to the people that associate with me due to that same target."

"They get caught in the crossfire or they are targeted in order to hurt you."

"It took me five years to fully understand that and to realize how stupid and naïve I'd been. My parents had sacrificed themselves to protect me. My closest friends have been hospitalized two and three times a year because of me. An older classmate I once had a crush on was killed in front of me after we'd been kidnapped from our school. My godfather died trying to save me from a trap that I'd stupidly rushed into because I was tricked into thinking that I needed to save him. And I fear that my honorary uncle may have been tortured to death in an attempt to find me after I left home to get the training that I wasn't getting from those who should have seen me prepared to deal with everything."

"I'm not here to make friends; I'm here because I don't want to die and because I know I'm not yet strong enough to fight a man fifty years my senior or the hundreds of men and women that are at his beck and call. I was on that ship for six months before Gon boarded and I spent that time reading and training. I ignored the other applicants (so much so that I have no idea when you or Leorio boarded the ship), learned a few useful tricks and skills from the crew, and waited for the day the ship reached its final destination. And then Gon turned up and he's been dragging me around ever since the captain booted us off the boat."

"Why do you let him though?"

"It's not that I let him; it's more that I don't know how to get him to stop. He doesn't take no for an answer. I flat out told him I was trying to ditch him during the First Phase. I think that only made him even more determined to drag me along. I think the biggest problem though is that he reminds me of me when I was his age and I can't help but want to protect his innocence because I know how much it hurts to have that innocence ripped away by the cold cruel world we live in. It helps that those who are hunting me have no idea where I am and that they'd never dare to come looking for me here because they fear Hunters. Although, knowing that Hisoka is interested in me now might just be enough of a reason for me to disappear."

"I doubt that would stop Gon; he strikes me as the stubborn type," Kurapika dryly pointed out as he climbed back up onto his feet and resumed drizzling water over the side.

Azalea chuckled weakly as she too stood up and dropped the privacy bubble as they moved on to the next section. The companionable silence from earlier soon returned as they steadily worked their way another quarter of the way around the tower before Kurapika asked yet another question.

"Why did you tell me all of that? I'm not complaining or anything but you'd been so reluctant to speak of your reasons for being here and your past all of the other times one of us asked that I actually hadn't really expected you to answer me."

"I hate being alone and I hate second guessing myself. I needed and wanted someone to understand why I am doing what I am and out of our ragtag group, I knew that you'd be the one most likely to understand me. Gon is too young and innocent, Leorio is too hotheaded and short tempered, and I'm unsure what to make of Killua and the little brat annoys me with his freaking super human skills of observation as he inevitably always knows just what to say to put me on edge. The biggest reason I didn't say anything sooner though, was because there were far too many people around and I was still hoping to ditch the lot of you."

"You had several opportunities during the First and Second Phase."

"And each time one of those opportunities arose, a certain little spiky haired midget jumped in and crushed it with a ruthlessness that rivals Hedwig's hunting skills; all while wearing a smile."

Kurapika laughed at Azalea's response and Azalea snorted and shook her head even as she felt as if a weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. The two of them continued to chat as they steadily worked their way through the next section and like when she'd been playing in the uplift during the second try of the Second Phase, Azalea felt as if she was simply a normal teen hanging out with a friend. When they started on the final quarter, the moment of playfulness vanished as Kurapika haltingly spoke of how his entire clan had been slaughtered for their eyes.

The shared pain of their tragic pasts helped forge a bond between the two in that moment. There was no pity, no empty platitudes, and no discomfort between them; just simple acceptance. Not even Ron, Horatio, or Ginny had ever been able to relate to Azalea in the same way that Kurapika could and did. Just knowing there was someone who understood what she had gone through and what she was still going through eased a little of the guilt and grief that had been dogging her heels from the moment she'd made her decision to take the Hunter's Exam.

When they reached their original starting point (which Azalea had marked with a spell), they both sighed with mild frustration over the lack of success and turned inwards to study the plateau. Azalea frowned as she glanced at the number of people meandering back and forth across the tower.

"There are a lot of people missing," Kurapika stated as he too frowned. "I can only see twenty-nine people and there were fifty-four applicants when we exited the airship."

"So that means almost half of the applicants have located one or more hidden doors leading down inside of the Trick Tower or they've been picked off by the flying creatures," Azalea observed as she searched for and soon found the other half of their group. "Let's join Gon and the others and see if they'd had any better luck finding a way down."

"Alright, take care where you're walking as the doors could be anywhere and we don't want to get separated."

"Don't even joke about that," Azalea groused as she shot Kurapika an irritated look. "With the way my luck tends to run, now would be the time I was dropped into a dungeon all alone because I've stopped trying to sneak away."

"Don't worry; we won't leave you all by your lonesome even if we do get separated," Kurapika countered with a laugh and a grin. "We've grown partial to your informative silences and I'm curious to see what nifty little trick you pull out of your magic bag next."

Azalea stumbled over her feet as she stared at Kurapika in shock as she stuttered out a nervous, "Ma…magic?"

"How else would you explain the amount of stuff you carry around in that little bag?"

"Um… exceptional organization skills?" Azalea replied uncertainly.

Kurapika laughed again and socked her on the shoulder, "I seriously doubt any amount of organization would fit as much food in there as you've been carrying around without some kind of technological tampering and that's not even counting the other stuff you have in there."

Azalea laughed weakly and relaxed as she finally realized that, no, Kurapika had not somehow figured out that she was a witch; he'd merely made a smart-mouthed comment. The blond gave her a funny look over her reaction to the teasing but didn't get a chance to say anything as they both heard Gon loudly calling their names. Glancing in the direction of the twelve year old, they saw him waving at them. Relief filled Azalea over the distraction as the two of them quickly, and carefully, made their way over to where the others were standing.

"Did you find something?" Kurapika inquired the moment they reached the trio.

Gon reached down to push on the stone slab at his feet and it easily moved down a few inches before shifting back up the moment Gon let go. The twelve year old then pointed out another four hidden doorways that were all in the same area and Azalea glanced over at Kurapika in trepidation to find the blond already looking her way. Azalea shrugged her shoulders and frowned while Kurapika immediately pointed out how suspicious it was that they'd found five doors close together when there was exactly five of them.

They debated the matter for several minutes before deciding that it was worth the risk of springing a trap since they'd already lost nearly two full hours searching the surface of the plateau for another way down. The moment they reached an agreement, the five of them split up and moved to a separate door. Azalea glanced at each of the others as Killua and Gon both counted to three. The moment they reached three, all five of them jumped lightly onto the door in front of them and immediately found themselves dumped down into the same room.

Azalea glanced over at Kurapika and the blond began snickering which in turn set Azalea off; both of them thinking back to Azalea's earlier comments about how she'd been unable to ditch the lot of them no matter how hard she tried. And the moment they'd decided to split up (thinking the five trapdoors each led someplace different), they were inevitably thrown right back together. Their other three companions eyeing them in confusion only made Azalea laugh harder.

Eventually, both of them fell silent (though they were still grinning) as they climbed up onto their feet and examined the room they'd ended up in. Azalea was studying the walls of the room as she recalled the way Diagon Alley was hidden behind a brick wall in the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. She had just noted a section where the pattern of the bricks was broken when Gon sidled up to the podium on one side of the room with five watches sitting on top of it and a small plaque posted on the wall behind it.

Azalea scowled as Gon read the notice on the plaque out loud, "The five of you must follow the will of the majority to reach the goal."

"The five of us?" Leorio repeated.

"There are five…" Gon began as he reached his hand out to pick up one of the watches.

"Don't touch them," Azalea ordered softly as she walked up behind the twelve year old, snagged hold of his wrist, and pulled his hand away from the podium before his hand could come into contact with one of the devices. "We don't know what will happen if we mess with them."

"_You will be unable to leave this room unless all five of you place one of the watches on your wrist,_" a voice announced through an intercom speaker secured to the wall.

"What? Who's there? Where are you?" Leorio demanded loudly as he spun around in circles.

"_I am Lippo. I am the examiner that is over seeing the Third Phase as well as the Prison Warden in charge of this prison facility._"

"I guess that means we put on the watches then," Gon replied with a shrug as he reached for the watches again.

"No," Azalea firmly replied as she again pulled Gon's hand away from the podium.

"Never play by their rules," Kurapika murmured in understanding as he met Azalea's eyes across the podium and Azalea flashed him a small grin as she nodded in agreement.

"_If you do not wear the watches, you will never leave this room._"

"I don't buy it."

"_What reason do I have to lie to you? I am telling you that it is impossible to leave this room unless all five of you are wearing one of the watches._"

"Impossible? Ha! Shows what you know; there's no such thing as impossible," Azalea retorted as she turned her back on the speaker box.

"_Let me put it to you another way; either the five of you put on the watches or I disqualify you now._"

Azalea snarled as she dropped Gon's wrist, clenched her fists in anger, and dropped her gaze to glare at the floor. She hated being manipulated and if her future wasn't riding on that damned Hunter's License, she'd have flipped their unseen watcher the bird before blasting her way out of the room. It was her failed rescue attempt at the end of her fifth year all over again; only this time she didn't have a bargaining chip to use as leverage. A hand gently brushing her shoulder brought Azalea back to the present and she looked up to find Kurapika holding out one of the watches for her.

"It was a good idea, James."

"Thanks but I forgot the one rule that matters most," Azalea replied softly as she reluctantly accepted the proffered watch and stared at the glowing display. She then shook her head and moved her wand from her left sleeve to her right pocket (so that she'd not have to worry about it getting stuck on the watch band in the event of an emergency) before she put the watch on her left wrist.

"Oh, and what rule is that?"

"Never give them any information that they can use to get the upper hand and by now, all of the examiners know that I'm desperate to pass the exam; they've all had days to exchange information with one another after all and we've been tested by an untold number of individuals since we set foot on the ship."

The moment the watch band clicked together around her wrist, the section of the wall that Azalea had noted earlier slid upwards to reveal a hidden door and an electronic locking device with a notice board and two small LED displays. The notice told them to press O to open the door and X to not open the door; meaning that they were required to 'vote' in order to move forward or remain in the room. Five O's had the door opening just seconds later and the five of them moved forward into the three way intersection that was just outside the room where they were immediately faced with another choice.

"Left or right?" Gon asked as he stared up at the sign.

"One sec," Azalea muttered as she palmed her wand and crouched by the entrance to the left hall to cast a detection charm before crossing the small intersection to do the same on the right. She then returned to the center where the others waited as she softly explained, "There are five people waiting for us no matter which way we go."

"How do you know?"

"The same way I knew the man you were treating in the house under the cedar was not a man."

"Ah. So, no matter which way we go we will be forced to face an equal number of opponents?" Leorio mused as he glanced between the two halls. "Can you tell which five are stronger?"

"No. I can only count the number of humans within twenty meters of where I am standing."

"We should take the right hallway," Kurapika suggested after another minute. "Most people tend to go left as a first choice when traveling through a maze or when they come to a fork in the road and are lost. So, if I was the examiner, I'd place the more difficult challenges down the path that has the highest chance of being chosen."

"I hate mazes," Azalea groused even as she obediently selected O along with everyone else to open the barred gate blocking the right hallway. "If there is a fancy trophy at the end of the line I'm going to hurt someone."

"Huh? What's wrong with trophies?" Gon asked as he blinked up at Azalea in confusion.

"You mean aside from the fact that they are tacky, collect dust, and were designed for the sole purpose of feeding one's ego?"

"The glass is always half empty with you, isn't it?" Leorio tossed back over his shoulder as they traveled down a short hallway that abruptly angled off to the left before it ended at a large open room where a platform sat in the middle of the large bottomless pit. Directly across from where they were standing, there were five people wearing handcuffs and drab clothes comprised of dark gray pants, a dark gray tunic, and a dark gray hooded cloak thing that completely hid their faces.

"No, I see a partially filled glass as an annoyance because it means that someone went and drank out of my cup when I wasn't looking and chances are, whoever it was, probably backwashed in it as well."

The others laughed in response to her smart-mouthed retort until they heard the sound of a pair of heavy metal cuffs hitting the floor. They glanced up in time to see one of the individuals across the way pulling the cloak from his head to reveal a tall muscular man with several scars marring his bald head.

"_I see that the five of you are ready to face your first challenge, gentlemen. Standing across the room from you are five of Trick Tower's prisoners that the Hunter Examination Committee has hired as additional examiners for the duration of the Third Phase and their job is to stall the five of you for as long as they can in exchange for reducing the length of their sentences. You are each required to face one of them in a one-on-one battle. The only rules are that you must fight until there is a clear winner and that no person may fight more than once. In order for you to clear this challenge, you must win three of the five matches._"

"Joy," Leorio muttered.

"I am the first opponent," the unmasked prisoner across the way declared. "Which one of you little rodents are brave enough to face me?"

All five of them turned to look at one another before glancing back at the bear of the man waiting on the other side. Azalea shook her head and muttered, "You're better off leaving me as one of the last fighters because I won't stand a chance in a physical fight with such a limited amount of space for maneuvering."

"I should…" Kurapika started only for Leorio to cut him off as he loudly called out, "I'll go first."

"Are you sure, Leorio?"

"Yes."

"Don't let him force you into accepting a fight to the death," Kurapika ordered as he grabbed hold of Leorio's arm as a narrow metal bridge extended from both hallways to connect to the center platform. "They'll not hesitate to kill you if presented with the opportunity and they are looking to keep us here for a long as they can; which means they'd draw your death out for as long as humanly possible. Not only that, but one of us dying here could trap the rest of us in the tower since we will most likely need all five to pass through the rest of the various challenges."

"I got it."

The moment both combatants reached the platform, the prisoner immediately suggested a death match just like Kurapika had suspected he would. Leorio declined and challenged the man to a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. The prisoner refused and suggested that the first one to push their opponent off the platform wins and again Leorio declined and suggested a bragging contest. Thankfully, the prisoner refused that suggestion as well before he proposed that they have a knife fight and the first one to bleed looses. To their shock, Leorio accepted with Leorio providing both of the knives.

The next twenty-three minutes was something to behold as Leorio surprisingly displayed an unexpected skill in knife fighting and dirty, street fighting. It was rather impressive to watch despite the fact that the taller teen lost after the third time he'd come close to slicing the prisoner's face up with the knife; the prisoner had been toying with Leorio right up until he realized that Leorio knew what he was doing and the prisoner risked losing the fight. The prisoner ended up stabbing Leorio low in the stomach for the win before jerking the knife out sideways in order to tear the wound open further as he pulled the knife free; a fatal wound due to both the location and the amount of damage done and one that guaranteed Leorio would be dying an agonizingly slow and painful death.

Gon offered to go next as a thin man with chin length black hair had his cuffs released next while Azalea rushed forward to help Kurapika carry Leorio back to hallway after Kurapika helped him across the bridge. Azalea didn't even hesitate to dive into her bag to snag the Home Healer's Kit she'd purchased and the book she'd bought on healing spells.

"Move his shirt out of the way and hold him down so I clean out the wound," Azalea instructed as she quickly flipped through the book for the proper incantation and wand movement for the wound cleansing spell; she didn't have time to care who saw her using her wand if she hoped to save the older teen from a slow and painful death.

Leorio screamed as the spell rushed through the wound and cleared out any germs, poisons, or other contaminants that might be in the wound. Azalea blurted out several contrite apologies as she realized she should have numbed the injury first and promptly rectified the matter before she rapidly flipped through the book for the spell she would need to heal the actual wound. Once she found the one she was looking for, she spent five precious minutes practicing the incantation and the wand movements after reading the entire paragraph detailing how the spell worked, what the risks were, and what she needed to do in order for it to work properly.

The spell was a type of knitting spell; only, instead of creating clothing from yarn, it forced human tissue to reattach itself back together by speeding up the cell regeneration process. The problem was that the spell required a steady hand and absolute control least the caster leave behind a mess of scar tissue that could potentially cause more damage than the original wound while potentially leaving behind tiny gaps in the wound that would continue to fester.

The moment she felt she could use it accurately; Azalea petrified Leorio with a spell in order to keep him from thrashing around and told Kurapika to hold the wound open so she could see what she was doing. She quickly recast the cleaning spell to clear out the blood and other fluids that were pooling in the wound so she could see what she was doing. Azalea then shut out everything else as she drew on her magic and cast the spell, directing the thin thread of magic flowing out of her wand to coax the damaged tissue back into its proper place as the torn cells were slowly replaced with whole cells.

After the first ten minutes, sweat began beading on Azalea's face as she struggled to keep control of the spell in order to keep the healing process going smooth and steady. Kurapika in the mean time split his attention between keeping track of what was happening with Gon's match (which hadn't yet started) and watching Azalea work. When Gon's opponent called for a majority ruling to decide which candle Gon would select for their game, Kurapika voted on behalf of Leorio and Azalea as well as himself after telling Gon to decide.

Gon won five minutes later despite the fact that the second prisoner had tricked him with a sabotaged candle and the third prisoner was released from his cuffs as the losing prisoner returned to the other side of the shaft. No one on the group's side made a move to fight the next battle though as the two twelve year olds anxiously watched Azalea's efforts to heal Leorio while Kurapika helped. The prisoners didn't care about the delay since wasting time was in their favor.

The longer she needed to hold the spell, the harder it was for Azalea to keep her hand steady as cramps shot through her hand and fingers due to how tightly she was grasping the handle of her wand while sweat stung her eyes. Forty minutes later, the last of the internal damage had finally been repaired and Azalea cast the cleaning spell one final time to clear away the last of the debris from Leorio's damaged intestines. Immediately after casting that final spell, Azalea dropped her wand; her entire body starting to shake as she let out a whimper when her hand seized up from tightly holding onto her wand for so long.

"Are you alright, James?" Kurapika asked in concern as he reached forward to keep Azalea from falling backwards and hitting her head against the wall behind her.

"Just fine," Azalea hissed from between clenched teeth. "Grab the bottle labeled as Essence of Dittany from the white and red box and pour it out one drop at a time into what is left of his wound until it closes completely. Just don't use too much because that's the only bottle I have and we might need it again before this task is over."

"Got it."

Gon hurried forward when Azalea slipped sideways the moment Kurapika let her go; the twelve year old cushioning the witch's body with his own as they both hit the floor. The kid then deftly began massaging Azalea's right arm and hand when he noticed the way the muscles were spasming and the uncomfortable way Azalea's fingers had been twisted from the pain. Azalea grunted in pain as the circulation in her hand and arm slowly began flowing again; causing almost as much pain as the cramping had.

"I'm done, James; what do I need to do next?"

"Nothing; but someone will need to take the next fight," Azalea rasped as the pain in her hand slowly began fading. "I can't give him anything for the pain until I release him from the Body-Bind but I can't do that until I can use my hand again. So, I'll apologize now for drawing out your suffering, Mr. Loud and Obnoxious."

Kurapika stood up after glancing at the blue-skinned man standing across the way waiting to fight and declared, "I'll take this fight; I need to work off my frustration."

"Fine by me," Killua replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Azalea glanced up to watch the blond make his way to the platform, focusing on what was happening in order to avoid thinking about the lingering pain in her hand as Gon continued to massage it. The witch damn near yelled at the older teen when he unhesitatingly agreed to a death match with the blue skinned prisoner but reconsidered when she took a second look at the man after wiping her eyes with her free arm and shifting her glasses back into place. The guy looked like he was half mountain troll and his evil laugh was so pathetic it made Azalea sneer in disgust over the sheer idiocy of the guy's attempt at being intimidating.

"Merlin's shorn beard but I've seen flobberworms that were more intimidating than that shmuck," Azalea muttered scathingly. "Hell, I've seen five year olds that were scarier."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Killua agreed as he glanced over his shoulder and grinned at the witch.

Azalea let an answering grin form on her face as she gently extracted her hand from Gon's and methodically flexed each finger and the entire hand in order to test the muscles to see how much control she'd regained. She let out a soft sigh when her hand didn't immediately crap back up as she reached down to reclaim her dropped wand.

"Thank you, Gon," Azalea murmured as she flicked the wand at Leorio to release him from the Full Body-Bind Curse.

The taller man immediately moaned and clutched his abdomen as he muttered, "You really need to work on your bedside manners, Mr. Doom and Gloom; preferably on some other guinea pig."

"I'm sorry; I've never done any real healing before aside from basic first aide," Azalea contritely stated as she glanced away from Leorio's pain filled eyes to watch the next intimidation attempt from the blue-skinned; the guy punching the floor with his fist hard enough to smash a small crater in the stone. Azalea snorted, she'd seen Grawp pull hundred year old trees out of the ground with all of the roots still attached and squish them up like a ball of clay using just one hand; breaking a measly stone tile with a fist was nothing compared to that.

"Eh? Somehow I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse that I'm your first patient. All joking and complaints aside, thank you, James. I'm pretty certain I owe you my life."

"You're welcome; I just hope I didn't screw things up. How much pain are you in?"

"Quite a bit, why?"

"I have a homeopathic pain remedy that will put you out for eight hours while it finishes healing anything I missed or I have a bunch of Tylenol samples that the doctor gave me before I left the Infirmary that will cut the pain in half but let you stay awake. You can have one or the other but you can't take both or you'll end up poisoning yourself and making the pain even worse."

"Let me think about it," Leorio replied. "We'll be here a little while longer and depending on how the rest of the fights go, we may need to move out to head for our next challenge and I don't want to slow us down by making you drag my unconscious body with you because it would probably take all four of you to carry me."

"Fair enough."

Their attention was drawn back to the platform at that point as the blue-skinned man claimed to be a member of the Phantom Troupe. Azalea sucked in a sharp breath while Leorio cursed up a small storm; both of them fully aware of how Kurapika felt about that particular subject. Killua let out a soft whistle when the blond moved across the platform in the blink of an eye and lifted the large prisoner off the floor by the face with a single hand. Kurapika then flipped the man upside down as he punched him right in the face; plowing the guy headfirst onto the platform floor.

When the teen stood up and turned his back on the downed prisoner, Azalea got her first glimpse of the blond's rage filled scarlet eyes. The witch flinched in fear when the red tinted irises reminded her of Voldemort for the briefest of moments before she saw the differences in color. Voldemort's red eyes had been cloudy, dark, and sinister; ugly eyes that spelled only death and pain for those who met them. Kurapika's eyes were clear, bright, and full of vengeance that promised retribution and justice. Kurapika's eyes were also beautiful to behold despite or maybe because of the fury that raged in their depths and Azalea couldn't bring herself to look away from them once her fear had passed.

Azalea almost whined when Kurapika looked away from her to address the unconscious, dead, or dying prisoner whose face was still plastered to the floor, "I'm only going to say this once, so I suggest you listen closely. First; a real Phantom Troupe tattoo contains the member's number inside of the spider. Second, they have no need to count the number of people they have murdered because they don't care how many people they kill. And third, never speak of the Spider again; or _I will kill you_."

The retractable bridge that connected the platform to the outer corridors slid into place a moment later and Kurapika made his way across to rejoin the others and all four teens held their breath as they glanced into the blond's eyes to gauge his current emotional state. Azalea still couldn't bring herself to look away from Kurapika's eyes as they gradually faded from jewel-toned red to a subdued brown and even then she didn't turn away from the older teen. When the blond confessed that he tended to lose control in the presence of real spiders as well, Azalea's lips twitched a bit in amusement as she wondered what the older teen would make of Aragog's brood.

They waited for the next prisoner to step forward for the next fight as Kurapika leaned against the wall beside Azalea and slid down to sit on the floor; pressing his face to his knees. A good ten minutes passed before they realized that something was wrong since their next opponent hadn't stepped forward and the blue-skinned man hadn't moved an inch during that time. A glance at the score boards indicated that Kurapika's match hadn't ended because the fate of the prisoner had not been confirmed.

After another fifteen minutes passed without any sign of movement from the man, Azalea cast the detection charm and frowned when she couldn't decide whether or not it was a good thing that the prisoner was still alive. Narrowing her eyes, Azalea flicked her right index and middle finger at the man and hit him in the back of the head with a wandless Stinging Hex. The man let out a loud screech and began rolling around and Azalea had to avert her face to hide her smirk over his reaction to the weak hex.

"Kurapika, would you be willing to go intimidate him into surrendering so we can collect your win?" Azalea asked carefully in a low voice that didn't travel far as she glanced at the teen beside her. "Or do you want me to drive him into throwing himself off of the platform?"

"I'll do it; he was on the verge of giving up when I punched him in the face earlier," Kurapika answered after he glanced over to meet Azalea's eyes. "You've already exhausted yourself and you still have to potentially face your own fight."

While Kurapika was tying up loose ends, Azalea glanced at Killua; the only other member of their group aside from Azalea that had not yet faced an opponent. She then glanced across the expanse to take in the two remaining prisoners.

"Killua, how confident are you that you can win in a physical fight?"

"I've been trained as an assassin from the moment I was old enough to walk," Killua replied. "If it comes down to a physical battle, I will win regardless of who I face."

"Good; because there is a chance that I will fail," Azalea confessed as she climbed to her feet. "I'm beyond exhausted because healing is not my forte; I much prefer the thrill of flying."

"If Killua goes next and wins, then you won't have to worry about fighting," Gon pointed out.

"It depends on which prisoner goes next," Leorio countered as he gingerly sat up to get a better look at the two remaining prisoners. "Have you noticed the way the four prisoners near the edge have been avoiding the guy sitting in the shadows? I'd lay money down on him being the worst of the lot."

"I agree," Killua replied after studying the man in question for a moment. "He's not moved once during any of the earlier battles and the others won't even look at him; yet they all remain acutely aware of his position and never draw any closer to him. If he steps forward next, then I will face him."

"He won't; they'll leave him as the potential tie-breaker because they are confident that he'll never lose," Kurapika stated as he rejoined them. "And the short one has already had the cuffs removed."

"I guess that means it is my turn," Azalea stated as she dug her silver potions knife out of her book bag and tucked it into her cloak pocket alongside her wand before she began buttoning up her cloak as she slowly made her way forward without bothering to look at her opponent.

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**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	9. Crossing x Invisible x Lines

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Nine: Crossing x Invisible x Lines

Azalea had just passed the halfway point between the hall where the others were watching and the platform where her battle would be taking place when her opponent addressed her.

"Do you like to gambol?" the prisoner asked from the other side of the platform. Azalea didn't reply as she continued walking and stepped up onto the platform before settling into the same dueling stance she'd used during the game she'd played alongside Gon and Killua during their flight to Trick Tower. "Are you the strong, silent type then? Would you be willing to make a wager?"

Azalea tilted her head to one side and arched an eyebrow to indicate she was listening while behind her all four of her companions smothered a laugh as Killua sarcastically complained that Azalea usually never shut up; an intentional verbal misdirection on the brat's part.

"I propose that we each wager fifty hours worth of time in a series of betting games to determine who wins our match. We can take turns making a wager until one of us has no time left. The only rule is that you must bet your hours in increments of ten."

"What happens if one side reaches zero?" Leorio demanded from where he was propped up against the wall as the LED screen hanging on the wall to Azalea's right lit up with a pair of fifties representing the fifty hours each side would potentially be wagering.

"If your side ends up with zero points you lose fifty hours of the time you have left to finish the task."

"And if you end up with zero?" Gon asked.

"We each have fifty years added to our prison sentence."

Azalea frowned before she glanced back over her shoulder to gauge the reactions of the others; knowing it wasn't just her chance of passing the exam riding on the outcome of her match. And while Killua's match remained as a potential tie-breaker, Azalea disliked failing in general.

"It's your choice, James," Kurapika called out after exchanging glances with the others.

Azalea frowned slightly as she glanced back at her opponent while she considered the suggested game and what it would cost their side if she lost her match. She then relaxed her stance, crossed her arms, and countered with, "I'm willing to play your game but not by your rules. I propose we only bet in increments of twenty-five and that all bets are final the moment you speak them; meaning that you can't change your mind the moment you start doubting your chances of winning or realize you made the wrong choice."

"What!?" Leorio exclaimed in shock.

The prisoner glanced back at the other prisoners before stating, "I accept."

"Is he nuts!?" Leorio demanded angrily.

"No, he's making his own rules," Kurapika countered with a head shake.

The prisoner then reached up to remove the hood he was wearing and revealed that he was actually a she. Her long, thick, fuchsia hair was tied up in two bushing ponytails with a few strands hanging free about her neck. Azalea narrowed her eyes slightly when the female prisoner posed with one hand on her hip and thrust her chest out as if to encourage her to look her up and down. She snorted and merely sneered at her in distaste.

"Shall I go first?"

"Might as well."

"Such a gentleman," the woman giggled as she batted her eyes at Azalea. "How about we wager on whether or not I'm really a woman."

"And how will we know you're telling the truth if you say he guessed wrong?" Leorio belted out and Azalea scowled.

"Shut up, Leorio," Azalea growled as she glanced back over her shoulder to scowl at the man. "Or I will silence you permanently."

Gon and Leorio paled drastically over what they immediately took as a death threat while Killua only looked amused and Kurapika simply took the threat in stride. Azalea's opponent giggled as she offered, "Whether he is right or wrong, I will let him physically examine me so that he will know whether or not I lied."

"There will be no need," Azalea casually replied without even bothering to look at the woman. "I'm willing to wager twenty five hours that you are a girl since I already know you are a girl but if you aren't certain of your own gender you're more than welcome to grope yourself to your heart's content in order to figure it out. Just do me a favor and let me know when you're finished because I'd rather not lose my breakfast having to watch you debase yourself in front of five grown men, a couple of pre-teens, and one immature teenager drooling like an idiot."

The woman pouted and stamped her foot even as twenty five hours were subtracted from the prisoners' score and added onto the group's score before she angrily demanded, "What will we be wagering on now?"

"You can pick again," Azalea graciously offered as she finally turned to look at her once more while Leorio cut off an expletive and Killua loudly wondered whether or not 'James' had lost 'his' mind this time.

"Then we shall wager on whether or not you can make me shed a single tear before I can talk you out of your pants and it will be an all or nothing bet; winner takes all."

"Fine."

The woman circled around Azalea several times before she stopped behind her back and slipped Azalea's hat from her head and tossed it onto the ground. She then ran the fingers of one hand through the hair at the back of Azalea's neck while she slipped the other hand around her waist and pressed her lips against Azalea's ear as the witch tensed and flinched over the unwelcome touches.

"Did you know that I know how to read minds, little boy? I know exactly what you are thinking right now and you should be ashamed of yourself."

"Liar," Azalea stated in a dead voice.

"What?" the woman demanded in confusion over the unexpected response and the tone it was delivered in.

"You can't read minds. You're simply trying to play mind games with me but you picked the wrong person to play this particular game with."

"You're just frightened that I will reveal what you are thinking to your companions."

"Do you know what it feels like to have someone tearing through your thoughts? To have someone ruthlessly crashing around through your memories without caring how much damage they do? To have them violate your very soul as they pull upon the memories of your worst fears and deepest regrets? To have a man you hate mock your hopes and dreams as he painfully and effortlessly rips each one from your mind while you grovel at his feet and beg him to stop? Or to have an insane murderer slide effortlessly into your head and feed you visions of your friends and family being tortured to death while you are helpless to do more than watch them suffer before their lives are snuffed out?"

"No, you've never experienced the true torture of having someone force themselves into your mind or you would not speak so casually of such a vile and unspeakable act of horrifying evil. And if you did possess such an ability, you would have recoiled in horror from what you saw the moment you entered my mind," Azalea finished in an angry hiss as she spun around had slammed her right palm onto the woman's chest at the same time as she cast a wandless Stinging Hex; making the woman cry out sharply in pain as she stumbled backwards while clutching her chest. "No, you're nothing but a pathetic little con artist that enjoys cheating people out of their hard earned cash while using your petty little mind games to shake them up and throw them off balance."

"Brave words, how about we put them to the test?" the woman sneered the moment she regained her footing and her confidence. "I know that you think you're going to make me doubt my ability to read your mind before trying to physically cause me pain to make me cry."

"Wrong. I'm going to make it so you can't move a single muscle and then I'm going to show you just what it feels like to have someone invade your mind so that I can steal your name and your deepest insecurities before I use your doubts and fears to completely and utterly humiliate you in front of every one here until you bawl like a baby."

Azalea's fellow applicants gasped in shock over the threat she'd just given the woman and Azalea was hard pressed not to choke on the bile that rose up in the back of her throat as she heard the crap that was spewing out of her mouth. Even worse was the knowledge that she wouldn't hesitate to do exactly as she said she would; too much was riding on her passing the Hunter's Exam and the female prisoner's claims of reading her mind had pushed one button too many in the wake of the vision she'd had the previous evening.

"You don't have the guts to carry out your threat!"

"Wrong again. You look at me and see a little boy and that is where you made your first mistake. I was still in diapers when I destroyed the man that murdered my mother just seconds after he had cut her down in front of my eyes. I was eleven years old when I learned that I could burn a person alive merely by touching them with my bare hands. And I was fifteen when I tortured a woman for daring to steal something precious from me while playing her wretched mind games."

"You lie!" the woman insisted as she took several steps backwards; her voice shaking with obvious fear.

Azalea let a feral smile slowly slide onto her face as she pulled on her magic, raised her right hand, and took a single step towards the woman; her eyes once more glittering with motes of gold dust. The woman's eyes widened imperceptively as she involuntarily took yet another step backwards. Azalea was quick to calculate the distance between her and the edge of the platform and she narrowed her eyes as she realized that there was a way for her to screw them over.

"Oh, and if you attempt to escape by throwing yourself off the platform; you will automatically forfeit the match because you will have failed to follow through on your wager."

The witch waited until her words had fully sunk in before she used a wandless Summoning Charm to drag the woman across the platform; causing her to let out a small, clipped scream of shock. The moment the prisoner was within arm's reach, she hit her with Full Body-Bind Curse and caught her before she could hit the ground. Azalea stared deeply into her eyes as she slipped her right hand into her pocket, wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her wand, and whispered the incantation that would allow her to slip into the woman's mind.

Azalea only stayed in her mind long enough to learn the prisoner's name and get an idea of her deepest insecurities and fears while smothered screams of pain rose from the woman's frozen lips. She then gently laid her on the ground and straddled her stomach as she let go of her wand, pulled her silver potions knife out of her pocket, and grabbed a handful of the woman's fuchsia colored locks.

"You take pride in your hair, don't you, Leroute?" Azalea inquired silkily as she drew upon all of her memories of the way Snape had sounded while taunting her through five years of school. "It's so thick and soft; its very color draws the eye and allows men to look passed your childlike visage, your stick-like frame, and smaller than average breasts. Even in the harsh confines of your prison cell, you've lovingly cared for the one thing you've always loved about yourself; your hair."

Azalea smiled charmingly as she saw the confusion and fear in Leroute's eyes while at the same time trying not to vomit on the woman as she pulled the section of hair she held tight and deftly sliced off a couple inches of her hair before she sprinkled the shorn strands across the platform. Anger replaced the earlier fear in Leroute's eyes as Azalea reached for another small handful of hair. This time, she cut it at an angle close to the ponytail holder that held her hair in place before she tossed it up into the air and hit it with a weak wandless banishing charm to scatter the strands as they fell back to the ground around the two of them.

"Doesn't your hair look so beautiful when it floats through the air? It almost looks like blood as it spills across the floor; just like my mother's hair the night _he_ murdered her when she refused to step aside and let _him_ kill me."

And just like that the fear was back in Leroute's eyes as Azalea reached out and took hold of yet another section of her hair; this time from the other side of her head. When she held it up so she could see the short section she'd cut free, she let a secretive little half smile form on her lips and she stared into Leroute's eyes again and cast a wandless Incendio to set the strands of hair to smoldering. As the smoke rose up from the shriveling hair, she gently blew on it so that it wafted across Leroute's face.

The moment a small whimper sounded in the back of Leroute's throat, Azalea tossed away the half melted bunch of hair and reached down to tenderly stroke the woman's hair as she loudly hummed God Save the Queen. Two more whimpers issued forth from between her frozen lips and Azalea cut off and blinked down at her as if she'd forgotten that she was even there. She sat up just a little straighter as she gently lifted the long strands that hung free on the right side of the woman's face and brought them up to her face as if she was scenting the strands.

"It's a shame that you didn't think your oh so clever plan through before you initiated our little game, Leroute," Azalea murmured gently as she coiled her hair around her fingers again and again as she glanced off to one side to stare at something only she could see. "If you had faced another, you might have been able to weave your web of lies around them and convince them that you truly could read their minds. I am nothing like the men you've played in the past and you really should not have pushed me the way you did."

"I used to be so naïve; thinking that there were some lines that people just didn't cross. That I would never cross. But I learned my lesson. She struck him down, you know? He was her cousin. They grew up together. They went to the same school. They sat side by side at the same table on family get-togethers and shared the same food for years, I'd imagine. They were as different as night and day but they were still family. And she didn't hesitate to cut him down while she laughed."

Azalea snarled as she suddenly tightened her hold on Leroute's hair and pulled it tight as she hissed, "I was such a fool. I wanted to make her writhe in pain for what she'd stolen from me. I should have finished her when I had the chance. I never should have stopped to listen to her taunts; she would not have escaped that night if I had just killed her."

Azalea shifted her hand and continued to hold the section of hair tight as she slowly stropped the knife on the lock of hair, shredding and knotting the silky strands bit by bit with each swipe. She purposefully let the knife slip closer and closer to the other woman's face until it was ghosting along her skin without actually cutting her as she returned her eyes to Leroute's. She then intentionally nicked the prisoner's ear with the tip of the knife as she watched the emotions flickering in the depths of Leroute's eyes. She let out a small strangled scream at that point and Azalea stopped what she was doing and tilted her head to one side for a moment as she studied her closely.

She then calmly pulled the knife away as she leaned down to wipe the blood from her ear before she whispered, "She tried to play mind games with me that night as well; just like you. I'm not going to let you escape though; no, not this time. I learned my lesson and I've practiced endlessly for the last six months just waiting for a chance to show her just how much she taught me."

Azalea pulled back and reached for Leroute's left ponytail as she raised the knife above her head and let all of the grief, guilt, and rage she'd been holding inside since the night she'd led her godfather to his death rise up to the surface of her mind until her eyes shimmered with magic and madness. A twisting flick of her wrist and a silent incantation had a wide ring of bluebell flames springing up around the two of them; Azalea choosing the rather harmless flames to inspire fear in the woman as she knew that Leroute was terrified of fire after she'd nearly died in a house fire when she was a child.

Azalea then met Leroute's gaze as she purred, "Be a good little girl for me, Leroute; be a _good_ little girl and scream for me. I **so** want to hear you _scream_." The magic flowing through Azalea's entire body carried her soft words to the ears of those listening and more than one person blanched at the madness her words and tone held.

A heartbeat later, the flames danced just close enough for both women to feel the gentle warmth of the flames and see them flickering from the corner of their eyes. Azalea's breathing grew labored beneath the onslaught of emotions at that point as her arm trembled with the strain staying in control of her emotions and the fire burning around them. Seconds later, she dropped her arm, wandlessly ended the Body-Bind Curse, and allowed the flames to sweep closer at the same time. Leroute let out a scream of sheer terror and a river of tears poured down her face as Azalea's knife sliced her left pony tail off right at the scalp.

The witch calmly climbed up off of the woman, snuffed out the bluebell flames, and shut off all of her emotions five seconds later as she sneered down at her and proclaimed, "I win, bitch," before she dropped the shorn hair onto Leroute's heaving chest and walked away without another word; leaving the woman sobbing hysterically on the platform.

"_You have now won three out of five matches, the majority rules; the five of you are free to progress to the next challenge,_" Lippo declared as Azalea paused just long enough to stoop down and collect her hat from the floor.

She settled her leather fedora on her head and pulled it down low as she continued crossing the platform, keeping her eyes glued to the floor out of fear of what she'd see on the faces of her companions. It wasn't until Azalea had almost traveled the full length of the bridge that she finally glanced up to see the others watching her with wide eyes and pale faces; except Killua. Killua was looking at her with respect and Azalea briefly wondered whether or not that was a good thing just before she dropped to her knees and puked as the realization of what she'd just done hit her hard.

She would have rolled right off the bridge at that point if not for Gon and Kurapika both jumping forward to grab hold of her at the last second. They'd just managed to haul her up onto the hallway floor when Voldemort sent a wave of pure ecstasy through the cursed link they shared and Azalea just knew that the Dark Lord had been excited by the rush of emotions he'd felt from Azalea during the past twenty minutes. She had a full five seconds for her guilt to eat away at her conscience before her scar split open for the third time in the last twenty-four hours and she let out a choked sob before she cried out sharply as the pain exploded in her head.

Voldemort vanished from her mind seconds later as a pair of jewel-toned red eyes floated up from the depths of her memories as she unconsciously compared Kurapika's eyes to Voldemort's once more and Azalea saw a brief flash of scarlet flames as Voldemort screamed in agony before she blacked out.

The next thing she knew, she was blinking a fresh stream of blood from her eyes as she stared up into Kurapika's chocolate eyes. Confusion filled her for a moment before her match against the woman prisoner slammed back into her mind and she rolled over and retched again until there was nothing left for her to bring up. A hand sliding across her back in comforting circles had her flinching and skittering sideways before her mind caught up to her body and she froze for a heartbeat before tipping her head to the side just enough to see Kurapika crouching with his hand held out in mid-air while eyeing her with concern.

"Are you alright, James?"

Azalea just shrugged as she gingerly sat down and averted her face; too ashamed of what she'd done to face the older teen or look him in the eye again. When she felt a cool, damn cloth being pressed to her forehead she flinched again as she jerked her head up to find herself face to face with the blond once more. She blushed bright red with embarrassment when Kurapika grabbed hold of her chin and held her face still so he could wash away the blood that was still flowing freely from her scar.

"Hold still," Kurapika ordered when Azalea tried to pull free.

Ten minutes later, the blond was tightly wrapping a long section of gauze around Azalea's forehead while the witch shifted uncomfortably over the close proximity of the other teen. Kurapika tied the bandage off a moment later before he slung Azalea's arm over his shoulder and hauled the witch up onto her feet. Azalea bit off a groan as her entire body protested the change in position while her head felt like it had just burst open.

"Sorry, but we've got to get moving; we've already lost close to ten hours between the four fights on top of yours and Leorio's injuries. Leorio said you had something on you that you could take to the dull the pain?"

"Yes, Dr. Mackle gave me just over a week's supply of sample Tylenol packets right before he kicked me out of the Infirmary two hours before we landed. They're in the left hand pocket of my cloak along with a bottle of water. Grab two packs and give one to Mr. Tall and Loud over there."

Kurapika grunted in acknowledgement as he reached across the front of her body and fished out the water bottle and two packets of pain medication and Azalea felt decidedly strange over the flood of body heat that suffused her as the taller teen pressed close for several seconds. The sense of loss she felt when Kurapika moved away only served to confuse her more; she couldn't understand why her body was acting so weird.

"Here, hold out your hand, James."

Azalea shook her head to clear it and lifted her free hand to comply. Kurapika dumped a pair of pills into her hand and the sixteen year old simply swallowed them dry. The blond then guided her over to the wall and propped her up against it before he went to deliver the other pack of pain meds and the bottle of water to Leorio. Emerald orbs unfailingly tracked the blond each step of the way until Azalea realized what she was doing and she quickly dropped her eyes to the floor as her face flushed red yet again. Her discomfort was soon forgotten as Gon suddenly popped up in front of her and Azalea flinched back in surprise; nearly cracking her head on wall at the same time.

"Did you really do all those things you threatened to do to that woman?"

Azalea blanched at the reminder over her complete loss of control and she snapped her head to the left as shame filled her once more. She couldn't help but wonder if some small piece of the Dark Lord had been left behind when Voldemort had tried to possess her there at the end of the Ministry Fiasco. Could a small piece of Voldemort influence her and fill her heart with darkness until she was no different that the murdering psychopath? Would she find it harder and harder to fight that darkness as it slowly took over her soul until she no longer cared?

"Did you?" Gon demanded, his voice pulling Azalea back to the immediate present.

"Yes," Azalea replied in a low voice filled with self-loathing.

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"A year ago, I never would have even considered doing something so despicable. A year ago, I was nothing more than a naïve little fool with simplistic ideals of what was right and what was wrong and stupidly believed that everything was painted in black and white; good versus evil. I am not the same person I was a year ago; that gi… that part of me died. I learned the hard way that the enemy won't play fair and that dancing to their tune only brings tears."

"Does that mean that you really would have killed Leorio just because he kept talking?"

"I never threatened to kill Leorio; I simply threatened to take away his ability to talk."

"It sounded like you were going to kill him; you said you'd silence him permanently. What about those things you said about what it felt like to read someone's mind? Or the things you said you've done?"

Azalea brought her right arm up and twisted it so that the back of her hand was facing Gon as she made a fist and pulled the cloak sleeve out of the way so that the scars on her hand stood out starkly against her skin and rasped, "My _professor_ made damn sure that I learned two lessons last year."

"The first one; authority figures are always right even when they're wrong. And the second one; I must not tell lies. As you can see, she made certain the second lesson sank in good and deep so that I will never forget that I am only allowed to speak the truth. Of course, what she really meant for me to learn was that I must not contradict the lies that the Ministry fed to the public in order to ignore the truth just because the truth was ugly and did not fit with their version of the world."

"I'm sorry," Gon stated after an awkward silence stretched between the two of them.

"Huh? For what?"

"For doubting you and thinking you were wrong."

"Don't be; I doubt myself far too much to begrudge you the same opportunity. I've also been known to make terrible mistakes that other people tend to pay the price for."

"Are you going to go back to trying to ditch us now?"

Azalea snorted and dropped her hand to hide her scars once more as she mockingly drawled, "Oh, yes, because that worked out oh so well the first dozen times I tried."

"We're leaving now," Kurapika announced as he returned to Azalea side and handed her the half full water bottle so she could take a drink while a suddenly grinning and over-proud Gon bounced on his feet beside the pair. "Do you think you can walk or will you need a hand?"

"I should be fine now but first I need to pack up my things," Azalea replied as she drew her wand and used the Pack Spell that she'd first seen Tonks use a year hand a half earlier; the witch too rattled to care if anyone saw her using magic right now.

All of her things that were spread about the small hallway jumped up off the floor a moment later and flew into her book bag in a matter of seconds. She then summoned her bag to her and pushed away from the wall with the intent of catching said bag and slinging the strap over her shoulder only for her to lose her balance and nearly topple over. Gon was quick to push her back up against the wall to prevent her from crashing to the ground while Kurapika snagged her bag out of the air before it could smack the witch in the face.

"That went well," Kurapika deadpanned as Azalea once again flushed bright red. The blond then shook his head, slung Azalea's bag over his shoulder along side his messenger bag, stepped up beside Azalea, and pulled Azalea's left arm over the back of his shoulders again before sliding an arm around Azalea's back. "Let's go! Killua, lead the way. Gon, keep an eye on Leorio; make certain he doesn't fall. I'll keep our magical mascot in line."

"Please don't use that word."

"Huh? Don't use what word? Mascot?"

"No. The other one."

"Magical? What's wrong with the word magical?"

"Because if you keep using it, someone is going to figure out what I am and then I'm going to have yet another group of insanely powerful people out to kill me and I'd really like to avoid that if at all possible."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Kura," Azalea replied in a low voice as Kurapika pulled her closer when they reached the bridge leading to the center platform just as Killua, Leorio, and Gon were crossing the platform towards the third bridge that lead to yet another hallway; the witch not even realizing she'd shortened Kurapika's name. "You saw what I did. You saw how I did it. And you can't tell me you haven't noticed all of the other little things I've done."

Their conversation was cut off when the only prisoner to not fight in a match suddenly lunged across the remaining bridge to attack the three on the platform. Azalea gasped as she fumbled in her pocket for her wand only to slowly drop her hand a heartbeat later as she realized that Killua had already killed the prisoner. The twelve year old had some how managed to cross the distance between himself and the attacking prisoner to pluck the taller man's heart out of his chest in the blink of an eye.

"Kurapika…?"

"Yeah, James…?"

"Remind me not to annoy that particular brat in the future, okay?"

"Only if you'll promise to do the same for me, James."

"Yeah, sure, no problem."

"Good. How are your legs? Are they still holding up your weight alright?"

"They're working as well as they can, considering that they turned to jelly a few minutes ago. What about yours?"

"I think I'm in the same boat."

"Oh, good; I hate sailing alone. The giant squid likes to play tug-o-war with my feet and someone will need to row the blasted boat across the lake before it sinks while I fend him off because I can't swim."

Both sixteen and seventeen year old leaned against one another as they laughed over their silliness and if there was a slight hysterical edge to the sound, well neither one of them was going to comment on it. They started walking again a few minutes later when Gon called out for them to hurry up. The two of them wouldn't make it across the platform without being attacked like the first group; this time it was a broken Leroute who tried to attack Azalea from behind in revenge for what the witch had done to her. Kurapika knocked the woman out using the chained bokken swords he kept hidden beneath his tabard at the small of his back.

"I have _got_ to get me a pair of those," Azalea declared as they kept walking without looking back. "I can't count the number of times something like that would have come in handy when the albino ferret attempted to attack me from behind. It would have been so worth each and every detention I know I would have been given. But as the saying goes… in for a penny, in for a pound and if I was going to be stuck in detention for breathing too loudly; I might as well have been in there for creating a series of artfully painful knots across the ferret's face."

"You are a strange one, James," Kurapika laughed as he pulled Azalea even closer as they came to the edge of the platform so that both of them would be able to fit across the narrow bridge.

A shiver traced up Azalea's spine as she suddenly became acutely aware of every single inch of Kurapika's body that was pressed up against her yet again. It felt like a combination of flames and electricity and it both excited and confused her as she'd never felt that way before. The closest she'd ever gotten was when she'd had that little crush on Cedric Diggory during her fourth year and that had ended the moment she'd watched the older teen dancing closely with his girlfriend during the Yule Ball the year of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

'_Crush?_' Azalea thought nervously as she tripped over the edge of the floor when they reached the new hallway and she would have fallen off the ledge if not for the fact that Kurapika was still holding her up.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine; just misjudged my step," Azalea replied a little breathlessly as her brain began running a mile a minute.

'_It can't be a crush, can it? I mean, I've only just met the guy. Besides, there's no way he'd ever look at me like that because he thinks I'm a guy too, right?_'Azalea reasoned as she desperately tried to ignore the way Kurapika was still pressed right up against her despite the fact that there was no longer a need for them to walk quite so closely together.

She'd just about convinced herself that she was merely imagining things when another part of her mind spoke up, '_Ah, but does it really matter how long you've known him? Admit it. You'd jump at the chance to see Kurapika's scarlet eyes again and while he might not know you're a girl, you know you're a girl and you want him to notice you that way. You know you were wondering whether or not his eyes would turn scarlet in the throws of passion. Even you can't deny that you were turned on by the jeweled flames in his eyes the moment you let go of your unfounded fears._'

"Well, yeah, they were breathtakingly beautiful," Azalea grumbled out loud in response to her inner self's taunts.

"What were beautiful?" Kurapika inquired as he glanced over at the smaller brunette.

"Er… um…" Azalea stalled as her face turned beat red yet again; completely embarrassed over the fact that she'd not only been caught talking out loud to herself but that the one she'd been talking about had been the one to hear her. After a moment, Azalea drew on her Gryffindor courage as she softly answered, "I hadn't planned to say that out loud. I was just… I'd been thinking about you; or rather your eyes. They were beautiful; like living fire."

"They frightened you; I saw you flinch the moment you saw them."

"No. The memory they invoked frightened me as I saw another pair of red eyes that have haunted my nightmares since as far back as I can remember. I couldn't tear my eyes away from yours once I saw them though and within seconds I realized that comparing your eyes to Riddle's eyes was like trying to compare a flawless ruby to a blood stained rock."

"Will the two of you quit flirting with each other and get your sorry behinds in here so we can vote on our next move?" Leorio groused as he poked his head around the corner and mock-glared back at them.

"Do you think the examiner would disqualify us if I turned him into a toad for the duration of this phase?" Azalea half asked and half whined as she averted her eyes and tried to ignore the fact that her face was on fire once again.

"Ignore him, James; Leorio is just jealous that you caught my eye first along with the fact that you never even looked at him once, let alone twice."

"What!?" the taller teen bellowed in disbelief. "I am not! I never! Leave me out of it!"

"Some one kill me now and put me out of my misery," Azalea muttered as she palmed her face; the witch more than half convinced that her face was never going to return to anything resembling a normal color as her blush deepened yet again. Meanwhile, Killua and Gon are glancing back and forth between all three older teens just enjoying the show (though Gon looked like he was more than a little clueless as to what is going on).

"Wouldn't you rather have Kurapika kiss away your misery?" Leorio teased with a smirk in retaliation for what the blond had implied earlier.

"Are you feeling jilted again, Leorio?" Kurapika fired right back as he arched an eyebrow at the oldest member of their group. "I'm sorry, but nothing has changed; you're still not my type and I've always been far fonder of vivid emeralds than I have been of muddy quartz."

"You know what, I think I'm just going head over to that corner over there so I can curl up and die of embarrassment now," Azalea deadpanned as her inner self began cackling madly while her heart thumped erratically despite the fact that she knew Kurapika was only teasing Leorio; after all, she was firmly convinced that Kurapika couldn't possibly think of her that way.

* * *

**AN: **_This chapter was exceedingly difficult to write because I wanted to portray Azalea as being a bit darker than canon Harry but didn't want her to sink too far. I also had to work in the hints of Azalea/Kurapika without making it seem too rushed. At this point, the mutual interest is being magnified by the inherent danger of the Exam. _

_For those who were uncertain as to what happened at the end of Azalea's match, that was similar to what happened at the end of the Ministry battle when canon Harry ended Voldemort's possession by thinking of Sirius and his parents. The feelings and emotions invoked by Kurapika's eyes were painful to the Dark Lord and it therefore drove him out of her mind. That doesn't mean that she's already in love with Kurapika, she's not. It merely means that his scarlet eyes had a similar effect of a patronus charm; it brought forth positive emotions. ~ Jenn  
_

**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	10. Seriousness x and x Silliness

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Ten: Seriousness x and x Silliness

Twenty-six hours and fifty-two minutes after they started the Third Phase, twenty-one hours after she'd won her match and felt Voldemort's pleasure, and sixteen hours and thirteen minutes after Azalea found Kurapika hovering over her; Azalea found her vision fading in and out as she staggered after the others (exhausted beyond belief). She then had a brief impression of shivering on the floor while hearing axes chip away at stone, a breath taking rush of speeding down a steep slide that reminded her of the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets or the cart ride at Gringotts, and feeling as if she was being cradled in another's arms.

She briefly heard the grating sound of stone grinding on stone and a mechanical voice calling out all five of their assigned applicant numbers in order of arrival before blackness overtook her completely.

Azalea was pulled from deep sleep by the steady but gentle tugging of something running through her hair and over her scalp. It almost felt like Hedwig was preening her hair, or more specifically, like there were five Hedwigs preening her hair; each beak following a slightly different path through the short crow's nest that doubled as hair for the last Potter. The feeling was strangely comforting and Azalea led out a contented humming purr before she wrapped her arms around her pillow and snuggled deeper into its comforting warmth as she started drifting back to sleep.

The sound of a half familiar laugh coupled with the feel of a hand running up and down her back snapped Azalea into full awareness as her entire body tensed and she stopped breathing. The hand on her back stilled but didn't pull away while the fingers that were running through her hair (which she only now recognized as fingers) continued their gentle massage. It was at that point that Azalea realized her pillow was not a pillow but actually someone's body when she felt the person shifting; she was laying across someone's lap with her face buried up against their stomach. A slight tremor shook her body as she tried to recall where the hell she was and who she was with.

"He looks so young and innocent curled up against you like that, Kurapika," a familiar voice… Leorio's voice mused from somewhere nearby. "Looking at him now you'd never guess that he was sixteen years old or that there was a mile wide streak of madness lurking inside of him."

Azalea felt iron bands wrap around her heart as Leorio's words pierced her to the quick and brought back the memory of what she'd said and done to the female prisoner she'd faced. She never heard the whisper soft, pained whine she let out as the fear that Voldemort was somehow influencing her from a distance filled her once more.

"Shut up, Leorio," an angry voice hissed in reply as the hand running through Azalea's hair stopped and pressed Azalea's face closer to the stomach she'd been snuggling into just seconds earlier while the arm laying across her back tightened. "You have no business judging him when you have no idea what horrors his past holds."

"Oh, and I suppose you do?" Leorio snidely snapped back.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do," the angry voice, which Azalea finally recognized as Kurapika's, countered sharply. "We had shared bits and pieces of our past with each other while we were hunting for a way off of the Tower's plateau; much like you and I did back during the first task. You might have taken his words and actions during his match as madness but all I could see and hear was an endless well of grief and guilt fueled by a powerful rage and a thirst for revenge. James is no different than me in that respect."

"I trust James," another voice added and a picture of spiky black hair and burning brown eyes filled with determination drifted in front of Azalea's mind's eye as a whisper of a memory supplied the name Gon.

"James has proved himself worthy of my respect whether he is insanely powerful or just powerfully insane," another voice declared and this time a flash of pale messy hair shot through Azalea's mind followed by the name Killua.

Azalea finally took a shuddering breath while a shiver traced up her spine over Killua's declaration as she recalled just how easily the younger boy had plucked the heart out of the convict that had attempted to attack half of their group. The loosening of the hands that had been holding her abruptly reminded Azalea that she was practically sitting on someone's lap and she blushed bright red as she removed her arms from where they'd been wrapped around the person's waist so she could sit up.

"I had hoped that I only imagined that you were awake," Kurapika regretfully stated as Azalea glanced up to find that it was the blond's lap she'd been sleeping on.

"He's awake?" Leorio parroted nervously. "Why didn't you tell me he was awake!? James, you know I didn't really mean what I said… I only meant… What I mean was… It was just my mouth running off on its own again…"

"You don't have to make excuses," Azalea murmured as she sat up the rest of the way and discovered that Kurapika had draped the blue and red tabard he usually wore over her like a blanket. Her blush deepened even more as she pulled it off of her and self consciously passed it back to the blond without looking while she added a soft, "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Where are we and how much time did we lose while I slept?" Azalea asked tentatively as she focused on unbuttoning her cloak when she realized she'd forgotten to do so earlier; an attempt to avoid meeting anyone's gaze so she could hide her discomfort a bit longer.

"We're at the base of the tower and you've been sleeping for around twenty-five or twenty-six hours," Kurapika replied as he placed his hand on Azalea's arm. "How are you feeling? You were looking rather gray after you destroyed the huge boulder that nearly crushed us."

"I'm fine… and did you say I slept a full day? How much time do we have left and how much further do you think we have to go?"

"We passed the task, James," Gon declared as he pounced on James from behind and wrapped his arms around the witch in a hug; making Azalea jump at the unexpected contact. "You and Kurapika tied for thirteenth place because he carried you out. Killua was twelfth, I was fourteenth, and Leorio was fifteenth."

"Can you tell me how you trapped your bag?" Killua inquired as he took a seat right beside the witch while Gon continued to lean against her with his arms wrapped around her neck. "Leorio and Gon both got zapped when they tried to sneak into it."

"We weren't sneaking… we were looking for the bottled water and a bite of food," Leorio grumbled.

"Sorry, I should have warned everyone that I'm the only one that can take anything out of my book bag. I had a… security feature installed to prevent theft when I had it upgraded over the summer. You guys could have woken me up and I'd have gotten the food out for you if I'd known you all were hungry."

"You needed the rest; you were utterly exhausted and Leorio feared that you'd not make it if you weren't allowed to rest until you fully recovered," Kurapika stated as he passed Azalea her book bag; the blond had carried it in the witch's stead since her match against Leroute.

"Oh," Azalea replied in shock as she glanced up first to meet Kurapika's gaze before she shifted around to glance at Leorio who was studying Azalea rather critically as the man's brown eyes ran over every inch of Azalea's form; something that had the witch feeling very self-conscious and nervous.

It was a look that she usually saw on Madam Pomfrey's face and Azalea shuddered; that look scared her because it usually meant she'd be stuck in the Hospital Ward for another two or three days and fed all kinds of horrible tasting potions. To avoid giving away her discomfort and to escape that look, Azalea dove into her book bag (dislodging Gon in the process) and began pulling out everything she'd need to make their small group some sandwiches. She also pulled out several cauldron cakes, some pumpkin pasties, bottled water (to make some tea), the tin of tea leaves, five bottles of Butterbeer, and the camping teapot and cup set. After a moment's debate, she also pulled out a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and a handful of Chocolate Frogs.

"Just how much crap do you have in that bag anyway?" Leorio asked as he moved a little closer to the group now that he no longer feared Azalea striking out at him for his earlier comments and he tried to peek inside of the bag.

"I'd bought enough supplies to feed a family of four for three months because I didn't know if there'd be food on the ship for me or how long I'd be on the ship until I reached the site of the exam; which would have been enough food to last me for a full year. I also packed a year's supply of candy."

"How do you fit that much food in there when you have all kinds of dishes, clothes, and camping equipment as well?" Killua asked in surprise.

"With careful packing using my exceptional organization skills," Azalea replied with mock seriousness.

Kurapika burst out laughing and Azalea grinned as she briefly glanced in the blond's direction while trying to ignore the flip-flopping sensation that suddenly attacked her stomach. To hide the blush that was spreading across her face yet again, Azalea began putting together their sandwiches. Another pair of hands soon took the supplies from her hand and she glanced up in surprise to find Kurapika passing everything to Killua, Gon, and Leorio.

"The three of them can make the sandwiches and I will make the tea while you rest a bit longer," Kurapika stated when he noticed Azalea looking at him.

"I'm fine."

"I'm sure you will be eventually but your face is still flushed and I'd rather not risk you getting another fever just to make us something to eat when there are still two or three more Phases left to face."

"Another fever? I don't remember having a fever."

"Well you did."

"Oh."

"Hey, James; what happened to Hedwig?" Gon asked as he glanced up from where he was spreading margarine, mayo, and mustard on the bread while Leorio sliced up the onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, and cheese and Killua layered the various ingredients on those pieces that had already been covered with the spreads. "I haven't seen her since we first reached the Tower."

"She's hopefully getting some information for me."

"Huh? How would an owl do that?" Leorio inquired curiously.

"She was trained to carry the post."

"What post? Wouldn't that be a little heavy for her? Why a post? I mean, what good is sending a stick of wood to someone? And how would a post help her get information?" Leorio fired back as he frowned.

"Not that kind of post. Post as in letters and bills," Azalea clarified with a snort.

"Oh. She's like a homing pigeon than?"

"No and if you call her that where she can hear you, she'll take offense and beat you about the head with her wings and scratch at you with her talons and beak. She's highly intelligent and doesn't like being insulted any more than a person would."

"Ah, point taken."

Nothing more was said as Kurapika poured out the tea while Azalea passed everyone a bottle of Butterbeer. When she got some funny looks from the others over the name of the drink she shrugged her shoulder and stated, "It's basically a kind of soda that I get back home and there isn't really enough alcohol in it to give a person a buzz let alone make them drunk." '_Unless you happen to be a house elf,_' Azalea added silently.

The witch then opened her own bottle, took a small drink, and let out a soft sigh of pleasure as the drink warmed her belly before spreading through the rest of her body. A brief flash of pain hit her as she heard the others let out pleased exclamations of surprise and pleasure over the taste and the warmth; their responses reminding her of the first time she'd snuck out of the castle to join Ron and Horatio in Hogsmeade.

She rolled the bottle back and forth between her hands as the worry that had driven her to contact Fred and George returned thanks to Gon's earlier question about Hedwig. She also couldn't help but worry about Hedwig's health as she had no idea just how far the owl would have to travel to reach England.

"Here, you need to eat too," Kurapika insisted as he shoved a sandwich under Azalea's nose.

"Thanks, Kura," Azalea replied automatically as she accepted the sandwich; the witch once again not realizing she'd shortened the older boy's name or that she'd practically caressed his name with her mouth as she spoke it. She also failed to notice the light flush that crossed Kurapika's face or the smirk that Leorio wore on his face over both the nickname and Kurapika's obvious response to the way said nickname had been uttered. After taking a few bites, Azalea paused and glanced up as she asked, "Who else has passed the Third Phase and how much longer until the applicants' time to complete the task is up?"

"Look behind you," Leorio suggested while Killua stated, "There's still another eighteen hours and thirty-two minutes before the time limit runs out."

Azalea took a moment to process both answers before she glanced over her shoulder to find a number of people spread out around the large round room that they'd ended up inside of. She flinched when her eyes briefly met Hisoka's across the distance before she quickly looked away from the disturbing man while a shudder walked up her spine. She then cast a second look over the other applicants as she mentally tallied the number of people present.

"There's twenty-four that have passed so far, including the five of us," Kurapika stated as Azalea finally pulled her eyes away from the others that had been eyeing her as she'd looked them over. "Numbers forty-four, three-eighty-four, fifty-three, two-ninety-four, two-sixty-two, one-ninety-one, three-oh-one, eighty, two-eighty-one, one thirty-two, and two-thirteen were all here before us; the rest of them showed up over the past twenty hours."

"That means that there is another twenty-nine people that could still potentially pass," Azalea mused as she recalled that there were fifty-four people that had been dumped on the top of Trick Tower – including the man that had been carried off by the strange flying creature.

"No, only twenty-eight; one of the applicants that made it out just minutes before us died and his body was removed while you were still sleeping," Leorio corrected with a slight frown. "Chances are a number of other applicants died inside the Tower as well; those traps we got through were certainly deadly enough and the other routes through the tower undoubtedly had more of the same. There's a high chance that the other applicants also faced prisoners at some point."

Nothing more was said after that as all five of them returned to their food. Every few minutes, Azalea would feel at least one pair of eyes burning a hole in her back and each time she felt them she couldn't help but cringe and hunch her shoulders as she had no doubt that it was Hisoka's gaze that kept landing on her. It wasn't until Azalea offered the others some of the Every Flavor Beans that she finally stopped worrying about the creepy man as their reactions to the more disgusting flavors cracked her up.

"Urgh… what the hell was that one! I swear it tasted like vomit!" Killua exclaimed as he tried to scrape the taste out of his mouth.

"That's because it probably was a vomit flavored bean," Azalea retorted with a snicker as she shook the box of beans to make them rattle around. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor. I know someone who once ate one that tasted like earwax. The black pepper ones are pretty gross too. And Ron swore up and down that one of his brothers ate a booger flavored one."

"Who's Ron?" Kurapika asked in a tone that almost sounded jealous.

Azalea paled a bit over the slip; she'd been purposefully avoiding saying anyone's name so that there was no chance her friends could be found and hurt because of her. She trusted Kurapika and mostly trusted the other three she'd been traveling with but she did not trust any of the other applicants and trusted the full-fledged Hunters even less. Dropping her eyes, Azalea let her shoulders slump as she traded the box of beans for a Chocolate Frog and stared at the colorful cardboard box the Frog was packaged in.

"Is there something wrong, James?" Gon asked as he noted Azalea's change in mood.

Azalea shook her head and discreetly pulled out her wand so she could check the other applicants' positions and cast a privacy bubble around their small group. If she was going to speak of her friends, then she was going to make damn sure that no one else heard another word she said.

"Please don't say his name again; I slipped up. I don't want anyone to know the names of my friends least they attempt to seek them out with the intent to harm them because of me."

"Why would someone harm your friends because of you?" Gon asked in confusion.

"So the guy you named is _just_ a friend?" Kurapika asked casually a split second later as he slightly stressed the word just.

"No, he's one of my best friends. And people tend to target those around me in order to hurt me. It's why I kept trying to ditch you guys… I didn't want you to be targeted because of me."

"You're very close to the guy you named?" Leorio inquired as the taller teen cast a sideways glance at Kurapika who'd dropped his face and clenched his hands for some reason.

"Well, yeah, he and his family sort of adopted me after my first year at… at the boarding school I attended; so, he's like a brother to me. All of his older brothers treat me as their little… as one of their family and I'm even closer to his little sister as she's the only… well she's the closest thing to a sister I've ever had. I mean we fight sometimes and Ron can be a real jealous jerk at other times but he's stuck by my side for the most part since our first year no matter what trouble finds me; not counting the month and a half he blamed me for what happened at the start of our fourth year. At least… he did. Don't know if he still will now."

"How come none of your friends came with you to enter the exam?" Killua asked.

"Most of them don't know I'm here. I… I kinda ditched my guard, sorta blackmailed my uncle into giving me my cousin's boarding pass, and ran away to enter the exam," Azalea sheepishly admitted as she blushed again while playing with the pull string on the Chocolate Frog packaging. "I wrote to everyone at each port during the six months I spent on the ship but I never got a reply back because we were always on the move and I never told them how to contact me in return so I don't even know if they're still talking to me. It's also entirely possible that they are pissed with me for nearly getting them killed roughly seven months ago on top of taking off the way I did."

"You ran away from home?" Leorio repeated incredulously while at the same time Kurapika asked, "Ditched your guard?"

"Well, yeah I ran away. I'm technically ditching my sixth year at… at my school right now. And while I might have considered Hog… err the cas… my school as home; there was no one there that would have been willing to train me. If there had been, then they'd have been teaching me what I needed to know from the moment I started instead of trying to pretend I was just another one of the students. Dumble… the Headmaster knew… he _knew_ what I'd have to face and he wasted five years when he could have been training me properly. And yeah I had a guard… don't rightly know if they were meant to be my bodyguard or my prison guard though since they did a rather piss-pour job of protecting me."

"Train you for what?" Killua inquired out of curiosity.

Azalea hesitated for a moment before she shook her head and flatly stated, "It's not important."

"Bullshit," Leorio retorted matter-of-factly. "If it wasn't important, then you wouldn't be here right now. Whatever it is that you need to be trained to do, it's the reason why you believe that you have no choice but to pass the Hunter's Exam."

Azalea glanced up sharply to meet Leorio's eyes before she swallowed thickly and jerked her gaze away; her mind automatically going to the words of the prophecy that had set her on her current course. She then reached up to let her fingers dance over the gauze that still hid her scar as she closed her eyes and tried not to vomit as everything that scar represented flashed through her mind all at once.

"James…?"

"I can't tell you. He's willing to kill for that information and it wouldn't be right for me to paint that kind of target on the four of you."

Silence fell over the group after that until Leorio casually asked, "So, James… you got a girlfriend waiting for you back home?"

"Huh? A what? Oh, hell no; don't even joke about that! I have no interest in dating any girl. And I'd rather throw myself off of the Astronomy Tower during a thunder storm than spend a single minute alone with any member of my fan-club."

"You have a fan-club? How the hell did you get a fan-club? Come to think of it, why would you even have a fan-club?"

"Of course he has a fan-club; those eyes of his could turn just about anyone's head," Kurapika grumbled in response to Leorio's questions and Azalea turned to stare at the blond in surprise.

"Having a fan-club sounds so cool," Gon and Killua both exclaimed at the same time.

"You wouldn't say that if you had one of your own; fan-boys and fan-girls are the scariest creatures on earth," Azalea solemnly countered as she pulled her eyes away from Kurapika to glance at the two twelve year olds. "Pray that you never have the misfortune of attracting their notice because fans travel in large packs and they are known to shriek like banshees when the object of their affection is in sight. They will also fall viciously upon one another if they even think one of their fellow club members has been noticed by their target."

"Seriously, why do you have a fan-club?" Leorio repeated.

Azalea glanced at her hands and ripped open the box of the Chocolate Frog in her hand, automatically snagging the animated frog out of the air as it tried to escape. She didn't notice the strange looks she was getting when she bit the head off of the frog while she tried to decide on whether or not she wanted to reveal any more about herself. A glance inside of the Chocolate Frog container had her letting out a snort over the irony of the fact that the Famous Witch Card in that box just happened to be one of hers. She stared down at the picture of herself wearing her tournament robes from her fourth year; the most recent card of her published by the company that made the Chocolate Frogs. She then tucked the box into her left pocket as she finally answered the question.

"I've been considered something of a celebrity back home since I was a baby and my father's family was considered part of the nobility in the very small community that I am from and they were rather well off. All the royalties I earn each time someone uses my name or face on their products or in their books have only added to the vast fortune I inherited. A lot of people are more interested in that fortune than they are in me and the rest can't look passed my fame."

"Why are you so famous?" Gon asked innocently.

"Because I supposedly did something no one else had ever done."

"Oh, what was it you were supposed to have done?" Leorio prompted when Azalea didn't say anything further.

"I lived when I should have died."

"Is that a real frog you are eating?" Killua inquired as everyone else fell uncomfortably silent.

"Huh? This? No, it's just a piece of chocolate. They only have one or two real good jumps in them and once you bite into them they stop moving."

Azalea ended up opening up the other four Chocolate Frogs and let the others run around trying to catch them while she carefully tucked the four extra cards that had been inside of the packages into her bag so that they wouldn't be seen. Gon and Killua were soon wrestling over the last frog when it escaped from Leorio and the taller teen yelled at them before he chased the two of them all through the room after they broke the candy in half and ate it. Azalea snorted over their antics and packed away the left over food before she picked her hat up from where she spotted it sitting on the ground and settled it onto her head as she sat back against the wall just a few feet away from Kurapika.

"I'm surprised you told us everything you did just now," Kurapika ventured a few minutes later. "Aren't you worried that someone was listening in just now?"

"I cast a privacy ward; same as I did when I was sharing my past up top. No one outside of the ward would have heard a word we said even if we'd yelled it out at the top of our lungs."

"Nifty trick, that."

"Yeah, it's come in handy a few times."

"It's not really technology that allows you to carry so much stuff in your bag; is it?"

"No, it's not."

"Can you tell me what it is?"

"You already know what it is."

"Magic," Kurapika stated a little hesitantly as he turned to look at Azalea.

"Yeah, magic."

"Does that make you a witch?"

"Something like that, I suppose; though the correct term for a male magic user is wizard," Azalea countered as she tried not to fidget over the subject of gender specific titles as she didn't want anyone to see through her disguise.

"What else can you do with your magic?"

"Quite a few things. I was taught Transfiguration; spells that turn one thing into another. So, yes, I could have turned Leorio into a toad if I was so inclined and I knew the proper spell. Charms; spells that affect an object without actually changing the basic structure of the object. An example would be making a feather float or causing someone's shoes to stick to the floor. And Defense Against the Dark Arts was where I learned how to protect myself from hexes, jinxes, and curses as well as dangerous creatures. My other classes didn't really focus on wanded magic."

"It was you."

"Huh? What was me?"

"When Leorio and I helped Gon save that deck hand during the storm, we should have slipped overboard when we missed him but our hands unexpectedly stuck to the water soaked gunwale."

"Oh, yeah, that was me. I'd been wandlessly casting weak Sticking Charms on the feet of all the sailors but couldn't reach them all before the one guy was swept overboard. The Sticking Charm I used to catch you and Leorio was a more powerful one since you were far enough away that I had to use my wand. I'd also caught the deck hand using the Levitation Charm so that Gon would be able to reach him before he hit the water and was pulled under."

"What was it you did to the man that was following us on our way to Zaban City? And how did you follow us from the cedar to the city? Did you really fly?"

"I petrified him with a Full Body-Bind Curse and then stunned him so he couldn't follow us again. He'd have been unable to move for about three or four hours and stayed unconscious for another six on top of that because I hit him with the second spell at point blank range."

"And the flying?"

"Would you believe me if I said used a broom?"

"Get out of here… a broom?"

"Yeah… a Firebolt to be specific; goes from zero to one-hundred-fifty miles an hour in under sixty seconds."

"Let me guess, you all wear robes and pointed hats too? I mean really, a broom? How stereotypical!"

"The hats are annoying but the robes aren't too bad for the most part; depending on which style you get. I prefer my dueling cloak over actual robes though."

"Are you serious? You really do wear long robes and pointed hats?"

"Not if I don't have to… that was mostly my school uniform. Most of the adults still wear robes but I think they're hard to fight and run in."

"Do you have a cat as your familiar too?"

"Nah, I've got Hedwig. She's better than a cat."

"She's not a regular owl, is she?"

"Nope, not at all; she's a breed of postal owl and she's three times smarter than a normal snowy owl and twice as smart as any other postal owl I've encountered. She can find any one, any where in the world."

"Beautiful and smart; a winning combination if there ever was one," Kurapika quipped with a laugh.

"You forgot loyal and protective. She's also a great listener… I can't count the number of times I've poured my heart out to her since she was given to me just before my first year. I sometimes think she knows me better than my friends do."

"I bet they know you better than you think they do."

Azalea just shrugged her shoulders as she glanced up to find Killua and Gon both hanging off of Leorio as the taller teen tried to shake them free; both twelve year olds laughing while the older teen complained loudly. She then dropped her head back against the wall, closed her eyes, and let out a soft sigh as she slowly drifted off to sleep once more; the sixteen year old still somewhat tired from her earlier magical exhaustion.

"You're going to get a stiff neck sitting there like that."

"Most likely," Azalea agree as she opened one eye and rolled her head sideways to peek at Kurapika. "I wouldn't be surprised if you were speaking from experience, Kura; if the position I woke up in earlier was any indication."

"I didn't mind and you really needed the sleep," Kurapika stated without an ounce of shame and Azalea blushed a bit as she recalled the way she'd snuggled against the other teen's stomach. Her blush deepened when she recalled the way the blond had been running his fingers through her hair. As if the other teen knew exactly what she was thinking he added, "Your hair was surprisingly soft. I half expected it to be full of knots; what with the way it sticks up every which way."

"My hair is a curse; it never lays flat no matter what I do to it."

"Why not grow it out then or cut it shorter?"

"I'm not allowed to grow my hair out and cutting it shorter doesn't work either; my uncle used to drag me to the barber's all the time and I'd always come home looking the same as I did when we left no matter how much they cut off. My aunt even took a pair of kitchen scissors to my hair once and cut it down to the scalp only for it to grow back overnight. Oh, was she ever pissed with me the next day. I must have spent an entire week locked in my cupboard for that stunt even if I hadn't known what had happened at the time since I hadn't yet learned about my magic."

"Your cupboard…?" Kurapika choked out as he whipped his head sideways to stare at Azalea in shock, a hit of scarlet coloring his eyes.

Azalea blanched when she realized exactly what she said and quickly uttered, "It's nothing… just forget about it."

"No. What did you mean she locked you in _your_ cupboard?"

"Kura…"

"James…"

"Please drop it, Kurapika; it's nothing… really… it was never really a big deal."

"Your relatives abusing you is not nothing, James."

"They didn't abuse me," Azalea insisted quietly. "They never beat me or anything like that."

"James, you're sixteen years old, are barely five feet tall, and weigh less than Killua. You flinch away whenever anyone touches you when you aren't expecting it and I have yet to see you eat a full three meals in one day let alone finish a full meal when you do eat. Not mention the fact that children don't have cupboards; they have bedrooms. Abuse isn't just a reference to someone being physically harmed."

"They still didn't abuse me… they just never liked me much because they were afraid of my magic."

"James…"

"No, they didn't. I have a bedroom now and they mostly ignore me during the summers when I'm not in school."

"James…"

"Please just let it go."

"It's not right."

"It's over and done and talking about it won't change the past."

"It's not over, they're still hurting you now," Kurapika pointed out as he slid closer. "If you can't even admit that what they did to you as wrong, then it is going to keep on hurting you."

"I never said how they treated was right," Azalea countered tiredly. "I just can't blame them for hating me; they never wanted me in the first place but they weren't given a choice in the matter. They did take me in though and I had a roof over my head, clothes to wear, and food to eat so long as I followed the rules and finished my chores. I may not have been happy but it could have been far worse."

"How…?"

"They could have beaten me black and blue regularly, they could have thrown me out on the streets, or they could have simply smothered me to death with a pillow the day they found me on their porch and thrown my body out with the trash. They didn't; they took me in, grudgingly perhaps, but they still took me in. Knowing that, I can forgive them their pettiness."

"And here I thought Gon was the only one in our group that was that innocent and naïve," Leorio deadpanned from where he stood just inside of the ward; the older teen had joined them some twenty minutes earlier without their knowledge.

"What good would it do me to hate them in return?" Azalea demanded as she glanced up at Leorio. "It would be no different than me hating you for fearing the madness that lives inside of me. But I can't hate you for fearing something that I myself fear and I won't hate them for being human enough to fear something that they can't protect themselves from."

"You're a rather stubborn little runt, aren't you?" Leorio asked with a huff as he dropped down on the floor.

"That's an understatement, if I've ever heard one," Kurapika snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest and scowled.

"I may not know how to turn you both into toads but I can and will hex you in tender places if you annoy me enough."

Leorio half pouted and half scowled over the threat while Kurapika just laughed before he reached over, grabbed Azalea in a headlock as he knocked her hat off, and gave her a noogie. Azalea yelped in indignation and promptly hit the blond with a wandless Tickling Charm that soon had him rolling around on the floor in hysterics. The moment he was released from the charm, Kurapika tackled her and tickled her in return. Azalea twisted and squirmed as she laughed uncontrollably while trying to catch the taller teen with another charm.

Gon and Killua both gleefully joined in the tickle fight when they returned a few seconds later. Azalea gave up trying to use her magic at that point as she simply resorted to using her fingers to hit the sensitive spots that drew the highest squeals from the others. It was the most fun Azalea had had since the day of the second task when she'd spent hours diving into the canyon on the top of Mt. Mafutatsu. Eventually, the four of them crashed in a tangled pile and slept for the next seven hours.

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**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	11. Hunter x vs x Hunted

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Hunter x vs. x Hunted

Azalea found herself sitting between Killua and Gon as the three of them played I Spy during the final two hours of the Third Phase while Leorio took a nap and Kurapika read a book. There were now twenty-seven applicants that had made it to the base of Trick Tower and the chances of someone else making it during the time remaining were dwindling rapidly. The witch listened to Gon and Killua bicker back and forth around her over technicalities and couldn't help but grin to herself as the two of them reminded her sharply of Ron and Horatio; her best friends always bickered over the silliest things.

Her grin slid off her face a moment later as the guilt of abandoning them so she could take the Hunter's Exam stabbed at her once more. Sighing, Azalea reached out and grabbed both twelve year olds in a head lock to shut them up and a smothered laugh had her glancing over to where Kurapika was sitting. The blond's brown eyes were dancing merrily as the older teen laughed at her over the top of the book and Azalea felt her stomach do that flip-flopping thing again. Before she could get caught up in her confusion over what she felt for her fellow applicant, both boys wriggled free and tackled Azalea to the ground.

An hour and forty-six minutes later, Azalea was smugly sitting between Gon and Killua once again while both twelve year olds sulked and rubbed their smarting behinds; Azalea had resorted to using wandless Stinging Hexes more than once during their impromptu wrestling match to get the upper hand.

Sneaking a glance over at Kurapika, Azalea let her mind return to its earlier train of thought the moment brown eyes flicked up to meet emerald. Blushing over getting caught staring, Azalea dropped her eyes and pulled her hat lower as she slouched down in mortification. At the same time, her inner voice was taunting her about Kurapika again; whispering soft reminders of what it felt like to wake up on the teen's lap, how it felt to have the teen's body pressed right up against her, and how pleasant it had been to feel the teen's fingers run through her hair. It was almost enough to drive her crazy because the voice wasn't helping her to understand what it was she was feeling or why she was feeling it in the first place.

Letting out a soft growl, Azalea reached up and threaded her hands through her hair and firmly told herself to shut up before threatening to Obliviate herself just to get a moment's peace. The sound of her inner voice cackling madly over the threat had Azalea groaning in frustration over how stupid it was to try erasing her own memories; Lockhart a shining example of what could go wrong. Though, to be fair, that was mostly the fault of Ron's defective wand but that was a good thing; otherwise it would have been Ron and Azalea that were sitting in St. Mungo's permanent ward without a clue as to who they were.

The sound of stone scraping stone as another hidden door opened drew Azalea from her inner turmoil and she glanced up just in time to see a familiar man stagger into the room. Azalea's lip curled up in distaste as she uttered a low, "I spy a talking jackass in blue."

"Huh? Are you referring to Tonpa, James?" Gon asked as he glanced at Azalea in surprise.

"I hate bullies," Azalea replied as she sneered the moment Tonpa glanced in their direction; the older man glaring hatefully at their group – specifically at Azalea.

Azalea's eyes tracked the short, fat man as he crossed the room to put as much distance between them as he could. A second later, Azalea's eyes connected with Hisoka's across the room and the red-haired man licked his lips provocatively as he grinned at the witch. Unable to suppress the shiver that danced up her spine, Azalea tore her eyes from the psycho and dug into her book bag for the Defense book that Remus and Sirius had given her over a year ago now. She ran her fingers over the paper covered spine of the now much worn book (the cover of the book concealed to prevent anyone from reading the title) as tears pricked the back of her eyes over the knowledge that it was the last gift she'd ever receive from either man; grieving for their deaths (potential death in Remus's case) and not for the missed gifts.

Cracking open the book, Azalea discreetly wiped the tears from her eyes as she skimmed through the index looking for a few useful spells that might come in handy the next time she came across Hisoka. She'd barely picked what looked to be a promising set of paired spells and thumbed to the proper page so she could read through the description of the spell and start memorizing the incantation and wand movements when the seventy two hours they'd been given to complete the task ran out. At that precise moment, a buzzer went off and Lippo announced that the Third Phase was officially over and that twenty-nine applicants had passed (the man automatically counting the applicant that had died upon reaching the base of the tower for some strange reason).

Stone grated on stone one last time as the door leading outside of the tower opened as soon as the man had finished speaking.

Azalea tossed her book back into her book bag and slowly climbed to her feet as she grimly settled her hat further down on her head and dispelled the privacy ward that she'd put up earlier with a wandless Finite. The witch fully intended to be the last one to exit the room (she had no wish to leave Hisoka or Tonpa behind her) only for Gon to take that choice away as the twelve year old grabbed hold of her sleeve and promptly dragged her across the room. Azalea glanced back once to give Kurapika a pointed look that clearly said; 'See! He's dragging me around again.' The blond only laughed at her in return and Azalea pouted even as she was yanked out into the sunlight.

Killua sped passed them seconds later and Gon dropped Azalea's sleeve in favor of dashing after the pale-haired boy as the two of them took pleasure in being out beneath the sun once more. Azalea moved away from the door and searched the sky; hoping to see her feathered companion. After a minute of searching, she let out a piercing whistle to call her on the off chance that she'd found a place to rest for a bit and didn't know she was out of the tower yet. She let out two more whistles; the third and final one sustained by a trace of her magic as her desperation fueled the sound.

Disappointment and fear gripped Azalea's belly and she kicked at a loose rock in frustration when there was still no sign of Hedwig. She knew she was being unreasonable, the owl had only been gone three days so far and there was no telling just how far away from England they actually were. It could easily be two or three weeks before she found her once more. The problem was that three weeks might be far too long to wait. She was just wondering if maybe she should have quit and gone home when she had the chance instead of sending Hedwig on a fool's errand when Kurapika stepped up beside her and touched her elbow.

Azalea jumped and whipped around in mild distress over being snuck up on before blushing when the blond arched an eyebrow and gave her a pointed look. She quickly glanced away and shook her head; knowing exactly what the older boy had silently been referring to. Kurapika then sighed and grabbed her in a headlock and dragged her back to where the others were waiting. Azalea yelped indignantly before hitting the blond in the rear with a wandless Stinging Hex that had him letting out a yelp of his own as he let go of Azalea and rubbed at his smarting behind. Azalea then very maturely stuck her tongue out when Kurapika glowered at her in response.

"Brat," Kurapika huffed as he playfully shoved Azalea.

"Takes one to know one," Azalea countered unrepentantly as she shoved the blond back.

"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to congratulate all twenty-eight of you on successfully escaping Trick Tower," a rather short man with a wide, spiked Mohawk wearing a black uniform with write trim and overlarge glasses intoned once everyone had exited the building.

Azalea recognized the man's voice as that of Lippo's; the examiner that had presided over the Third Phase through the various speakers spread throughout the entire tower. Azalea snarled silently and clenched her fists as an overwhelming desire to punch the annoying man rose up. Kurapika's hand dropping onto her shoulder startled Azalea out of her rage and Azalea glanced up at the taller teen in surprise before she flushed as she realized she'd just lost control of her emotions again and glanced away from the blond again to focus on Lippo's speech.

"Only two more phases of this year's Hunter's Exam remain; the Fourth Phase and the Final Phase. The Fourth Phase will be taking place on Zevil Island; if you look behind me you can see the island for yourself. I will now explain the rules of the Fourth Phase."

Lippo paused for a moment as a tall man dressed in olive green wheeled out a small square cart with what looked like a simple box seated on top of it. Lippo waited for everyone to shift a little closer before he continued, "All of you will be required to draw lots in order to decide who will be hunting who during the next task. There are a total of twenty-eight cards to choose from; one card for each applicant that passed the Third Phase. The order you will draw in is the order in which you completed the previous task. Will the first person please come forward and pick your card?"

"Shit," Azalea cursed as Hisoka strode forward and selected his card. "You guys do realize that there's a chance we could be forced to fight each other at this point, right?"

"A small one; after all there are only five of us plus twenty-three additional applicants," Kurapika replied as he placed his hand over his badge.

"I'd be far more worried about having Hisoka hunting one of us," Leorio countered as the next three applicants were each called up to take a card.

Before Azalea could begin to panic over the mere thought of having to face Hisoka for any reason, Killua was heading up to draw his card. It was at that point that Azalea realized that she didn't remember what place number she'd been assigned as she'd been completely delirious with exhaustion at the time.

"Er… what number did you guys say I was again?"

"Thirteen, so go draw," Kurapika drawled as he shoved Azalea forward.

"But didn't you tie for thirteenth," Gon pointed out loud enough for Azalea to hear him as she stepped up to the box.

"Draw, James," Kurapika instructed when Azalea glanced back to frown at the blond.

"Blonds are annoying," Azalea muttered under her breath as she reached in to take a card before she glanced up to scowl at Lippo. As she withdrew her hand, Azalea muttered, "You, on the other hand, are a just a prick."

The tall guy in olive green burst out laughing while Lippo scowled in response to the insult. Azalea ignored them both and walked away without bothering to glance at the card she held; passing Kurapika on the way back to the others.

"Don't think I won't get you back for that, Kura," Azalea promised as she flashed the teen a small scowl.

"You're such a tease," Kurapika retorted with a smirk before he quickly drew a card and caught back up to Azalea so that they reached the others at the same time as Gon took off to go fetch his card.

"I am not above hexing you in tender places," Azalea drawled as Leorio moved to draw his card next.

"Are you flirting with me again?"

"You really want me to hurt you, don't you?"

"Promises, promises."

Azalea snorted, shook her head, and muttered about annoying blonds under her breath as a blush spread across her cheeks over the husky tone that the older boy had used in reply; he'd made it sound like Azalea had been promising something far more intimate than a quick and painful hexing. She shoved her hands in her pocket and grumbled when Kurapika just laughed over the fact that Azalea hadn't had anything to say in reply.

Their attention was soon being drawn back to the examiner as Tonpa drew the last card and they were instructed to remove the seals covering the face of the cards. Azalea stared down at the number in her hand as Lippo informed them that the number on their card was their target and that their objective was to steal their target's ID badge. When Lippo said that they could do as they pleased to retrieve their badges, including killing their targets, Azalea let out a hissing growl of disgust.

"Listen closely! Your target's badge is worth three points. Your own badge is worth another three points. All other badges are worth one point each. You must have a total of six points in order to advance to the Final Phase of this year's Hunter's Exam. Your transportation to Zevil Island will be arriving in about ten minutes; please do not leave the area as you will be disqualified if you miss the boat."

Azalea grabbed hold of Gon and Killua and pulled the two of them with her as she moved away from the rest of the applicants while hissing for Kurapika and Leorio to follow them. Once they were clear, Azalea crouched down, pulled out her wand, cast a privacy ward, and ordered, "Stand together in a line in front of me so no one can see me and hand me your badges. Don't argue with me, Leorio; we don't have time!"

Gon was the first one to hand over his badge and Azalea concentrated as she cast the Duplication Spell to create a dozen copies of Gon's badge. She then spelled a holding charm on each of the fakes to make certain they wouldn't vanish until she canceled the spell holding them. Next, she cast a Disillusionment Charm on the original and handed it back to Gon.

"Stick that back to the inside of your jacket and wear one of the fakes on the outside. If someone attacks you for your badge, just let them take the fake you are wearing and then replace it with another as needed. This way you'll only need to gather three points each and won't have to worry about someone else taking yours. Tuck the rest of these away in your bag Gon, and don't let anyone see them. You're next Killua."

Killua's badge was copied in short order followed by Kurapika's, Leorio's, and her own. Azalea stood up the moment she was finished and let her eyes search out the other applicants as she noticed they were all still milling around eyeing each other distrustfully. She then glanced back at her companions as she stated, "I intend to collect the badges of anyone I stumble across in order to limit the number of people that will make it to the Final Phase. I don't want to ruin your chances to pass the task though… so, if you don't want me to steal your target's badge; I'm going to need to know who your target is."

"Hisoka," Gon quietly revealed and Azalea snapped around to stare at the twelve year old in shock.

"Gon," Kurapika murmured in concern.

"I'll be fine. I'm scared but I'm excited too."

"I can steal his badge for you, if you want," Azalea offered as she used her wand to carve Hisoka's number onto the back of the card with her target's number.

"No. I want to do this myself."

"Promise me you'll be careful," Leorio ordered as he dropped his hand on the twelve year old's head.

"I will."

"And the rest of you?" Azalea asked as she tried to ignore the uneasiness she felt over Gon facing Hisoka.

"I have number one-thirty-two but I don't remember who that is," Killua stated at the same time as Leorio replied, "I have number two-forty-six."

"One-thirty-two was one of the first eleven applicants to clear the Tower," Kurapika reminded the pale haired pre-teen before turning to Leorio to add, "Can't say I remember who number two-forty-six is though as he or she was not one of the first eleven and I didn't take note of everyone who arrived as I was otherwise occupied."

"Thanks, I think I remember him now," Killua replied as he blinked and spun around to search the faces of the other applicants while Leorio just frowned and joined Killua in scanning the other applicants.

"Who is your target, Kura?" Azalea asked after she finished carving both of those numbers onto the card with the others while she tried not to blush when she recalled exactly what Kurapika had been occupied with during the majority of the time after they'd reached the bottom of the tower. The knowing smirk on Kurapika's face wasn't helping though, nor was the laughter she could see dancing in his eyes.

"Number sixteen, Tonpa," Kurapika offered a few seconds later.

"If I find him first, I'll leave him his badge but I can't promise you he'll be alive," Azalea replied as she scowled off towards where Tonpa was standing. "I had intended to knock him out during the First Phase but I was interrupted by a pair of particularly stubborn brats."

"That's what you were going to do when you were trying to ditch us?" Killua asked incredulously. "We could have helped you get rid of him, ya know!"

"I didn't want anyone to know I was cheating to weed out the bullies," Azalea muttered as she glanced away from the pouting twelve year old. "And at that time I was still working very hard to hide the full extent of my abilities from everyone."

"Who do you have, James?" Gon asked when the twelve year old realized the witch hadn't mentioned her target yet.

"Number eighty-nine," Azalea absently replied as she added Tonpa's number to the card before she tucked her card away into her pocket along with her wand.

"I don't recall who that one is either and most everyone has already removed their badges," Killua stated with a frown.

"It's alright. I don't need a name or a face to get my target's badge."

"Are we all going to stick together again?" Gon asked.

"Probably best not to because we'll each need to hunt down our target," Kurapika pointed out as he briefly frowned in Azalea's direction. "We haven't yet been told how much time we will have and if we stay together there's a chance one or more of us will fail if we run out of time."

"We should make plans to meet up towards the end of the task though, in case one of us needs help because we ran into trouble along the way," Leorio suggested as he flicked his eyes towards Gon; the taller teen reminding the group who Gon would have to target.

"If we meet up after roughly two-thirds of our time has passed, we can work together to collect extra badges for anyone who is short of the six needed points," Azalea proposed as she began pulling out bottles of water, fresh fruit, and packs of cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties that she passed out to each of the others. When she noticed the questioning looks the others were giving her over the food she explained, "Since we could be on that island for days, this can at least hold you over if you can't find any edible plants or catch any game to eat."

There were murmurs of thanks before Killua announced the arrival of the boat and the five of them migrated after the rest of the applicants. Azalea was the last one to board the boat as she cast about one last time for any sign of Hedwig before she tucked her hands in her pocket and followed after the others. After learning that it would only take two hours for them to reach the other island, Azalea made her way to the bow of the boat so that she could stare out over the ocean.

"Are you worried?" Kurapika asked softly as he joined Azalea at the front of the boat a few minutes after the boat left the dock.

"Not for myself."

"You're talking about Gon."

"Yeah."

"I think he'll do just fine; he's a resourceful little guy and he was the one that came up with a way for us to get out of the tower faster when we were so worried about you not making it due to the high fever you'd developed. More importantly, what will you do if you are Hisoka's target?"

"I'm not."

"How do you know?"

"Because he would be devouring me with his eyes if I was," Azalea replied as she glanced sideways at the blond. "His gaze feels hungry every time he looks at me. It's the same look that the man who killed my mother gives me every time I come face to face with him; only Hisoka terrifies me in a way Riddle never could."

"He may hunt you down anyway; since the rules of the task will permit it."

"Don't worry; I've never been very good at playing the damsel in distress since I'm always the one rushing in to save the day. I also know more than one way to disappear."

"Pity, I think you'd look adorable in a dress."

"You only say that because you haven't seen how dashing I look decked out in silver armor."

"Do they actually make armor in midget size?"

"I wonder how you'd look with tentacles growing out of your ears," Azalea mused as she narrowed her eyes. "I'm thinking a nice muddy brown pair would compliment that blond mop you call hair."

"At least mine isn't a crow's nest."

"Funny, you didn't think there was anything wrong with my hair when you were running your fingers through it yesterday," Azalea teased in a low voice as she blushed bright red over her own boldness and turned to stare out at the ocean.

"As I recall, you quite enjoyed having my fingers run through your hair."

"I thought you were Hedwig; she's always mothered me like that."

"Uh huh, and do you make those cute little purring sounds when she runs her beak through your hair like you did when I was running my fingers through your hair?" Kurapika demanded softly as he leaned just a little closer and glanced at Azalea from the corner of his eye.

"Er… wh…what?" Azalea stuttered in shock as she whipped her head around to stare wide-eyed at the taller teen.

"You purred like a happy little kitten as you curled up in my lap and snuggled closer."

"Kitten…? Remind me to use you as a scratching post the next time I'm draped over your lap."

"Does that mean you want there to be a next time? That if I were to offer you the use of my lap as a pillow again that you'd willingly accept?" Kurapika asked in a playful tone that couldn't fully hide the underlying seriousness behind the questions as his brown eyes unflinchingly held Azalea's gaze.

Azalea's heart skipped several beats as her stomach did several back flips as that particular question unleashed a veritable flood of conflicting emotions. Taking a shaky breath, Azalea tore her eyes away from Kurapika's as she leaned against the gunwale and stared at the prow as it cut through the salty water below. She really had no idea what it was she wanted and with the prophecy looming over her head she wasn't entirely certain it would have mattered even if she did know.

"James…?"

"I don't know. I never… I mean I just… it's all so… and I… I just don't know."

"You don't have to give me an answer right now."

Silence fell between the two of them and Azalea let her thoughts wander where they would and soon found herself reviewing everything that had happened since Voldemort had shoved the vision of Sirius's capture into her mind on that fateful day during her History of Magic O.W.L. Exam. Inevitably, her thoughts turned to the prophecy as they usually did when she thought about that night and Azalea reached up to run her fingers over the bandages that were still covering her scar as snatches of Trelawney's voice echoed through her mind.

…_the Dark Lord will mark the child as his equal…_

Marked as his equal… both literally and figuratively as the Dark Lord had singled her out time and time again both before and after the night the wizard had left her the jagged scar upon her brow. Why her though? Why not Neville? Was she really chosen because she was a halfblood like Voldemort? Or had Voldemort learned about the Potter's heritage? Could the Dark Lord have used that knowledge to make his decision? Did Dumbledore mislead Azalea in an effort to keep Azalea from learning about her heritage?

Azalea had had to learn about the Potters in the dead of night after all; sneaking about under the cover of her invisibility cloak because any time she'd shown even the slightest of interest in learning about her father's family, Ron had made an effort to distract her. Did that mean Ron was watching her for Dumbledore? Spying on her to make certain that she remained weak and uninformed? Or was it more of Ron's petty jealousy because the boy hadn't wanted Azalea to use the money and connections that came with being the last Potter?

…_the child will have power the Dark Lord knows not…_

A power that Dumbledore had claimed was love. Really, love? What power could the word love hold for her when she didn't even know what love was? Dumbledore claimed that Voldemort could never understand love but what did that say about Azalea? How do you understand something you'd never felt? She supposed she cared about her friends on some levels but was that really love? Or was she simply protecting what she saw as hers the same way she used to protect what little food her relatives had given her from Dahlia and the other bullies. Or the way she hid her wand, jewelry, invisibility cloak, and photo album beneath the floorboards to keep them away from being found by the Dursleys?

Even if she did feel affection for her friends; what good would that do her if she needed to understand love in order to use the mysterious power that the Dark Lord himself supposedly did not know? Wouldn't it make far more sense if the power was an ability that few people could use? If it was something tangible that could be learned and mastered? A rare ability or skill like the one that the Potters had been rumored to wield. A power the likes of which hundreds of dark witches and wizards feared enough that they had hunted the Potter family until finally only one remained.

A power that Dumbledore potentially feared enough to make certain that Azalea never learned of its existence let alone learned how to utilize it.

…_either must die at the hand of the other…_

Kill or be killed; a choice between taking a life or walking to her death. No matter how many people fought on either side of the war, it would all come down to the two of them. In the end, the entire war would be settled by pitting Harriet Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived against Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldemort; a virtually untrained girl against a man with decades of experience.

…_neither can live while the other survives…_

It would never end so long as they both lived. The war could last for years… for decades… for centuries, even… all because the two sides would forever struggle back and forth so long as they each had their rallying point. She'd never be free… could never be free… until she faced Voldemort and one of them finally destroyed the other. And if she should fail… if she should fall… then the world would suffer because _either must die at the hand of the other_… If Azalea could not kill Voldemort, then Voldemort would live on unopposed because there would be no one left who could strike him down. After all, the dead can not strike down the living from beyond the grave.

Azalea's knees buckled on her as the full weight of what was expected of her crashed down onto her shoulders and she bit her lip so hard she drew blood in order to hold back the scream of sheer frustration and terror that threatened to rip free from her mouth. A hand on her elbow prevented her from crashing to the deck and Azalea flinched as she finally recalled where she was and what she was doing. She desperately shoved her emotions back into a little box at the back of her mind before she self consciously pulled her arm free of the hand that had grabbed her.

"What happened, James?" Kurapika asked in concern.

"I lost my balance," Azalea muttered as she avoided looking at the blond and crossed her arms defensively.

"Don't lie to me," Kurapika snapped rather loudly and Azalea jumped in shock as she jerked her head up to stare at the taller boy. "If you can't or won't tell me fine… just tell me to butt out and I will; but don't stand there and lie to me."

"It wasn't a lie; it just wasn't the full truth."

"And the blood?" Kurapika demanded as he reached out and swiped his finger across Azalea's chin before holding it up so that Azalea could see the fresh blood dripping from the digit.

"I bit my lip."

Kurapika huffed and wiped his finger off on his tabard as he critically eyed the witch for another minute. Azalea didn't bother trying to hide or turn away. Eventually, Kurapika scowled and turned away and Azalea felt a small stab of guilt before she locked that emotion away as well.

"Was it because of what I asked earlier?"

"No. It has to do with my reason for taking the exam," Azalea replied softly as she reached up and wiped the rest of the blood from her chin as she probed her cut lip with her tongue. "Your question simply led my mind in endless circles until I tripped over a far bigger problem than merely trying to understand whether or not I wanted to end up in your lap again."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I snapped at you."

"It's alright. I imagine you've been on edge ever since you asked me your question and that waiting is really the last thing you want to do because it took a lot of guts to put yourself out there like that when you have no idea what I'm thinking," Azalea stated as she sagged back against the gunwale and dropped her head back so that she could stare up at the clouds overhead.

"Something like that."

"The problem I have is that I don't know if I can answer you. And it's not because I don't want to give you an answer but because I don't understand. There's part of me that wonders if I should even bother trying to find an answer. Or if it would be better that I don't give you an answer. It may sound mean and unfair but you have to understand, my answer could end up hurting you above and beyond just offending you or hurting your feelings."

"You're worried about targets," Kurapika stated as his eyes lit up in sudden understanding.

"Partially… mostly I'm referring to the fact that I'm living on borrowed time with what amounts to a death sentence hanging over my head."

Nothing more was said as the boat pulled up alongside a cliff where the water was deep and dropped anchor before putting out the gangplank. They'd reached Zevil Island and the Fourth Phase was about to start.

* * *

**AN: **_As I had stated in an earlier author's note, those of you reading my other Hunter x Hunter/HP crossover might have recognized bits and pieces of the story in this chapter from chapter eleven of Hunter x in the x Making and again that is because both stories originated from the same plot and morphed into two different plots from there. You know it's kind of funny that chapter eleven in both of the stories ended up at the same point in the timeline when they were so different just a few chapters ago. ~ Jenn _

**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	12. Give x and x Take

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twelve: Give x and x Take

The tension between all twenty-eight applicants was high as they were told that they would be stranded on the island for one week; a full seven days. They would have seven days to collect their target's badge and seven days in which they would have to avoid having their badge taken by the one hunting them. The news that they would be let off the boat in two minute increments according to the order in which they completed the Third Phase was almost as unwelcome as the number of days they'd be trapped on the island; especially knowing that Hisoka would be the first to leave.

Azalea scowled as the five companions gathered together one last time and she dug into her book bag for the book she'd been reading when the time ran out for the third task and quickly flipped through the pages for the spell she'd been hoping to learn. She then spent the next fifteen minutes repeating the paired incantations under her breath and practicing the wand movements with her hand while ignoring the questioning looks the others were giving her.

Once she thought she had the spells down, Azalea cast the first half of the spell on Killua, who squawked over being the guinea pig, but Azalea knew she had to do the brat first because Killua had the lowest number of their group. She verified that she'd cast the spell correctly and that it had properly taken hold by casting the second half of the spell. She sighed and relaxed a bit before she cast it over the other three members of the group; checking to make certain the spell was working on each person before she finally put both book and wand away.

"What was that all about?" Killua demanded once Azalea had finished.

"So I can find you if you don't show at the agreed upon location when the time comes."

"Good idea. When and where are we going to meet?" Gon asked.

"We shouldn't talk about that on the boat," Kurapika quickly pointed out. "We'll all be getting off within minutes of each other; we can simply gather off to one side just out of sight and make our plans out of sight of the others."

"Number twelve!"

"See you in a bit," Killua stated as he headed towards the gangplank as his number was called.

Two minutes later, Azalea shoved Kurapika forward when their number was called only for the woman monitoring their departure to tell them both to leave. Kurapika laughed and dragged Azalea along behind him while the witch pouted in response to her chance at getting even being undermined. Then again, the way Kurapika was holding Azalea's hand in his (their fingers laced together) felt rather nice; though Azalea could have done without being dragged along as she cursed her short legs.

"You're spending too much time with Gon; you're picking up his bad habits," Azalea groused as the two of them slipped into the woods and found Killua waiting for them in the fork of a tree twenty yards to the left of the path.

"Would you prefer that I carry you again?" Kurapika teased lightly.

"Only if you're going to carry me too," Killua fired down at them.

"How about I hang you upside down by your feet instead?" Azalea offered with a snort. "And if they make us run again; I just might take you up on that offer, Kura."

"What offer?" Gon asked as he trotted up to them; the twelve year old had followed the familiar scent of blood that was clinging to Azalea's cloak from when she'd bitten her lip earlier. "And did you know you were bleeding again, James?"

"Yes, I bit my lip earlier."

Azalea brought out her wand and checked the immediate area to make certain no one else was hovering nearby. The moment she knew the area was clear; she set up a privacy ward while the others kept watch for Leorio as the older teen should be joining them in another minute or so. Once he joined them, they spent fifteen minutes debating on when and where they should meet, with Gon and Killua climbing to the top of the tree to locate a landmark that would be easy to find from anywhere on the island.

Gon, Killua, and Leorio promptly left once a decision had been reached while Azalea dug into her book bag for her broom and Kurapika hung back to watch her. The witch was going to fly to their designated meeting place to secure a base camp for them so they would have a safe place to rest if any of them got hurt while attempting to capture their target's badge. Tying the other four into the wards was as easy as her smearing a bit of her blood on their badges; which she'd done before the other three had left by opening up the cut on her lip again before she healed it properly with a drop of Dittany Essence.

"James?"

"Hmm…?" Azalea hummed to let the blond know she was listening even as she shifted things around so she could find her disillusioned broom.

"About what you said earlier… about having a death sentence hanging over your head…"

Azalea glanced up sharply over the topic and grew wary as she noted the serious expression that the taller teen was wearing on his face. She let her hands fall away from her book bag and it swung back into place against her hip as she hesitantly asked, "What about it?"

"I'd much rather you not try to protect my feelings by keeping your answer to yourself. If there is any chance that you were interested in what I was offering, then I want to know," Kurapika stated as he slowly closed the distance between them. "Because if you die without telling me, then I will forever wonder if I foolishly wasted what little time I could have had with you and that would hurt me far more than you simply telling me you are not interested."

"I hadn't considered that… but wait… does that mean that you…?"

"That I what?" Kurapika asked as he stopped right in front of Azalea so that the witch had to tip her head back to maintain eye contact with the taller teen.

"That you want…?" Azalea asked uncertainly as she gestured between the two of them. "That you are interested…?"

"I am."

Azalea swallowed thickly as those two words weighed almost as heavily upon her as the prophecy. They also added a whole new dimension to the circular arguments she'd been having with herself over whether or not she actually liked Kurapika in that way. After all, she'd been trying to convince herself that there was no way the blond could be interested in her that way because he thought she was a boy. The idea that he _was_ interested in her (despite thinking her a boy) was almost frightening.

"You'll have five days to decide whether or not that makes a difference in how you answer my question," Kurapika declared after allowing the silence to drag out for several minutes. "In the mean time, you'd best not get yourself killed on this stupid island."

The blond then reached out to place his hand on the back of Azalea's neck as he leaned down and brushed his lips briefly against Azalea's and Azalea gasped softly in surprise over the unexpected kiss. She floundered for several seconds as she stared into the brown eyes that were sitting mere centimeters away from her own; completely unsure what to think or how she should feel. A second fleeting kiss brought her train of thought to a grinding halt when her eyes closed of their own accord as she drew in a shaky breath. The older teen took immediate advantage of Azalea's slightly parted lips and Azalea let out a soft moan as Kurapika claimed her mouth in that moment for a proper kiss.

It was, in fact, her first ever kiss; the witch had avoided those of her fellow students that displayed any romantic interest in her because she didn't trust them to be interested in her for any reasons other than her fame and fortune. She might have made an exception of Diggory had shown any interest in her but he'd had a girlfriend and the crush she'd had on him had died once she'd seen how close he was to Chang.

Azalea reached out and tangled her fingers in Kurapika's tabard when the older teen deepened the kiss and slid his other hand around Azalea's back before he pulled the witch flush against his body. Azalea let out another soft moan as the sensation of Kurapika's body being pressed up against hers once again sent a pleasant wave of heat rushing through her. She felt fingers tangling in the hair at the back of her neck as the kiss went from exploratory to demanding in the span of a single heartbeat and Azalea unconsciously moved her hands down to rest lightly on Kurapika's waist as she leaned into the heat radiating from the blond.

The sixteen year old let out a small whine of protest when Kurapika ended the kiss a moment later. A small pout formed on Azalea's lips when the taller teen let out a soft laugh in response to Azalea's protest but before she could open her eyes or voice a complaint, Kurapika's lips returned to hers. She let out a small hum of satisfaction that soon turned into a moan of pleasure as her mouth was plundered for a second time while the molten heat of an unfamiliar emotion pooled in her belly.

There was no time to voice a second protest when Kurapika's mouth left hers a second time as the line of fiery kisses the older teen trailed along her jaw drew her full attention. The hand buried in the hair at the back of her neck gently pulled Azalea's head backwards to expose her neck enough that Kurapika could continue the trail of kisses down the side of her neck. Azalea began trembling and she let out a long low moan as those lips stopped in the hollow at the base of her neck where they began to nip and suckle at the sensitive spot.

A seeming eternity later, Kurapika's mouth returned to reclaim Azalea's mouth in a final kiss that was as tender as the first two were passionate. When he withdrew completely, Azalea was left trembling and panting beneath the flood of foreign emotions that had been stirred by those kisses. It took her several minutes to regain her bearings and when she finally opened her eyes, she found herself once again looking into Kurapika's eyes. She searched for answers in the teen's eyes for a moment before she dropped her gaze down to Kurapika's mouth as the memory of everything those lips had made her feel flittered through her mind.

Azalea then glanced back up to meet Kurapika's eyes briefly before returning her gaze to his mouth as she tentatively reached up to hesitantly brush her lips against the older boy's lips and with that one kiss, Azalea revealed to the older teen just how inexperienced she was when it came to kissing (and any other form of intimacy). The two rather tentative kisses that followed only reinforced her lack of experience to both of them as Azalea realized that she didn't really know what she was doing beyond the knowledge that a kiss usually involved a meeting of lips. She didn't have a single clue of how to go from that fleeting touch of her mouth against the teen's mouth to the all consuming ravishing kisses that Kurapika had given her.

She wondered if that meant there was something wrong with her as she pulled back and caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared at Kurapika's mouth for a moment before looking up to meet the older boy's gaze once more. The amusement she could see in those brown eyes didn't help as she thought it meant that the seventeen year old was laughing at her rather than him seeing her uncertainty as adorable (the witch rarely ever allowed others see her when she was feeling insecure least they think of her as being weak).

Groaning softly in confusion and self recrimination, Azalea dropped her face against Kurapika's chest to hide her inner turmoil. She tensed a bit when the hand on her back began running up and down her spine but she didn't pull away. Fingers massaging the back of her head pulled an involuntary humming purr from her followed by a soft rumbling laugh from Kurapika that Azalea felt more than she heard with her face pressed up against the blond's chest as it was. Azalea let out soft growl of irritation that only drew more laughter.

"You are such an adorable little kitten," Kurapika softly declared as he set his chin on Azalea's head.

"Don't make me hex you in tender places," Azalea muttered into the teen's chest.

"As fun as that sounds; I really should start looking for my target."

"Huh? Target?"

"Do the words Fourth Phase and Hunter's Exam ring any bells," Kurapika asked with another laugh.

"Oh, damn; I completely forgot," Azalea exclaimed as she sprang free of Kurapika's arms and began searching the clearing for her book bag; completely forgetting that it was already slung over her shoulder. Kurapika snorted and ended her slightly frantic search by snagging the book bag off her arm. Azalea blinked at the bag in confusion before she glanced up at Kurapika when the teen tucked it under his arm for a moment.

"Five days, kitten," Kurapika reminded the witch once he had her complete attention. "In five days, I fully expect you to be ready to discuss what is going on between us. I don't expect you to have all the answers you need or want but I do expect you to have given the matter some consideration because where we go from here will affect what happens once the Exam is over."

The blond then set Azalea's book bag in her arms and stole one last kiss before he was gone. Azalea stared off in the direction Kurapika had vanished in as she reached up and ran her fingers over her lips. She then shook herself out of her stupor as she summoned her broom from inside of her bag, ended the old Disillusionment Charm so she could cast a new one, cast the same spell over herself, dropped the privacy wards she'd set, and shot up into the air. She hovered there for several minutes lost in thought before she turned her broom around and headed for the large rocky outcrop that would mark the general location of their base camp.

The feel of the cool wind rushing over her still rather overheated body helped clear Azalea's mind and she temporarily shoved all thoughts of blonds and kisses out of her mind as she focused her attention on her current task and the Fourth Phase of the Hunter's Exam. She reached her destination a short while later and spent several minutes searching the area for other humans, dangerous animals, and potential hazards. Once she was certain that it was safe, she scoured the area for a good place to set up camp. It took her a little while but eventually she found a small clearing about twelve meters away from the rocky outcrop that was more than big enough to hold her tent.

She checked the area one last time to see if anyone had snuck up on her while she'd been searching before she dropped down and cast a temporary Muggle Repelling Ward around her chosen camp. She then dug out her camping supplies; which included a standard set of pre-carved ward stones designed to protect and hide a temporary camp from predators, natural disasters, and unwanted intruders of the two-legged variety. All she had to do was set the four stones up in the cardinal directions at the edge of her camp and activate them using her blood; which would also key the wards to her and make it so that only those who were related to her or carrying a talisman with her blood on it could pass through the wards.

Once the wards were set, Azalea dropped the Repelling Charm and used three spells she'd learned in Herbology to loosen the soil, remove any rocks, dig a fire pit, and level out the dirt where she planned to set up the tent. The tent went up next before she summoned enough fist sized rocks to ring the small fire pit. A quick peek inside of the tent had her opening up all the doors and windows so that it could air out because it smelled like dirty socks. At least it was otherwise clean and free from pests and it wouldn't take long for the smell to dissipate now that there was a breeze flowing through the interior.

And just like that, the camp was set and secure.

Now she had five days in which to locate and steal her target's tag and eliminate the more dangerous competition. Five days in which to torment herself over her worries about what was happening back in England. Five days in which she would be alone with the knowledge that the fate of thousands of people were resting on her shoulders. Five days in which to figure out what the hell to do about Kurapika. And five days in which she'd have to relive those fiery kisses while her thoughts ran themselves to death in endless circles.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Azalea asked aloud as she dropped down on the ground beside the fire pit and threw herself backwards to stare up at the sky. "I'm here to earn my Hunter's License; not audition for the leading roll in a ruddy soap opera."

As if to mock her proclamation, Azalea's mind played back every single second of the handful of kisses she'd shared with the seventeen year old; kisses that she'd enjoyed far more than she cared to admit. Kurapika's kisses had made her feel alive in a way she'd never dreamed possible. Not even flying could come close to matching the level of exhilaration she'd felt in those kisses and there was a time when Azalea believed that nothing could compete with the thrill of flying.

Azalea let out a frustrated sigh as she closed her eyes and let the fingers of her right hand reach up trace her lips. The more she thought about what had happened, the more she wished that moment had never ended. Yet, at the same time, she wished it had never happened because the memory of it kept taunting her. She could still feel the way Kurapika's mouth had moved against hers, the way Kurapika's tongue had teased and coaxed hers into dueling, and the way Kurapika's firm body had felt plastered against her own.

She'd felt on fire at the time.

Nothing else had mattered beyond what Kurapika had been doing to her with his mouth and hands.

Azalea let out a strangled groan as she rolled over and pressed her face into the ground. She was never going to get anything done if she couldn't even stay focused for more five minutes at a time. After another minute, Azalea pushed herself up off the ground and walked out of the hidden camp as she hunted for a place she could practice her spell casting. If she couldn't reason her way out of her current predicament, then she'd blast her way out of it by burning off the excess energy.

Thirteen minutes later, Azalea was standing in the middle of a ring of rocks and trees in a small clearing some five miles away from her camp. She'd set up temporary wards that would keep people from stumbling across her and affixed a series of conjured and transfigured targets all around her. After buttoning up her cloak, Azalea warmed up by casting a series of wandless Stinging Hexes at each of the targets. She then moved on to a combination wandless Levitation, Banishing, and Sticking Charms as she levitated pebbles from the ground, sent them flying, and made them stick to the targets.

She added wandless Freezing Spells and Summoning Charms to the spell chain next; making the pebbles fly this way and that as she froze the targets and smashed the ice with flying pebbles. She was covered in sweat by the time she switched to another wandless spell chain that utilized the Banishing and Summoning Charms in combination with the Blasting Curse, Petrification Jinx, and Tripping Hex roughly forty minutes later. All around her the tiny pebbles exploded, dropped in mid-flight, or flew off course as she spun in a compact circle.

When she ran out of thumbnail sized pebbles to destroy, Azalea pulled out her wand and practiced the Stunning Spell, the Disarming Charm, a more powerful Blasting Curse, and a Shield Charm. The Stunning Spells and Disarming Charms splashed harmlessly against the transfigured targets while the Blasting Curses were used on fist and foot sized rocks scattered about and the Shielding Charms were used to protect herself from the shattered rocks. Her breathing was labored as she pushed herself further than she had during the Third Phase (the sixteen year old no longer exhausted from a lack of sleep or plagued with pain from Voldemort's interference as she had been prior to entering the prison tower).

The trees, rocks, and transfigured targets eventually fell beneath Azalea's wanded Blasting Curses as she worked on her speed, timing, accuracy, and agility; her body nimbly twisting right and left as she aimed at a sequence of targets that sat on opposite sides of the clearing from each other. When the last rock exploded, Azalea lowered her wand and stared at the destruction she'd surrounded herself with over the course of several hours before she calmly began putting out the flames licking at the remains of the trees. The rock shards and jagged chunks of wood were swept off to one side to be used another time and the smaller shattered remains of the trees collected so that they could be used as firewood.

Once she'd cleaned up the clearing as best she could, Azalea dropped her wards and headed back to camp. If she'd been thinking clearer, Azalea might have worried about her destructive activities drawing the attention of all twenty-seven of the other applicants on the island; her wards had failed to hide the smoke from the explosions or the tremors caused by the large scale destruction (specifically the crashing of falling trees). As it was, Azalea hadn't thought any further than truly letting lose with her spell casting in a way she'd not done in over seven months and driving her confusion into the ground.

Azalea slipped through the wards protecting the camp an hour later and made a bee-line for the tent and the shower. She scooped up her book bag from where she'd left it sitting beside the empty fire pit on her way across the camp before she vanished inside the magical contraption that was her tent. She dropped her bag on the bed and quickly stripped out of her sweat soaked clothes before tossing them in the magical hamper that had come with the tent. After a brief moment's consideration, she dug out the rest of her dirty clothes from her book bag and tossed those into the hamper as well before shutting the lid to start the cleaning process.

Grabbing a clean pair of pants and underwear, Azalea slipped into the bathroom and turned on the water to the shower as she dug out soap, shampoo, conditioner, a face cloth, and a couple of clean towels from the cabinets. She then stepped beneath the hot water and moaned softly in pleasure as the water sluiced down over her filthy body. She just stood there enjoying the soothing heat for close to twenty minutes before she soaked her hair and scrubbed it clean. She then washed her hair a second time to make certain she got all of the dirt out before she conditioned it. While the conditioner sat, she grabbed the bar of soap and washed the rest of her body before she rinsed herself off.

The last thing she did before she shut off the water was to wash and rinse the shower walls to make certain she didn't leave any dirt or soap scum on them (a habit born from years of living with the Dursleys). She stepped out of the shower two minutes later as she hummed God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs while she toweled herself dry before she pulled on her underwear, rebound her breasts, and got dressed in clean pants and a shirt.

She used the second towel to dry her hair as she stepped back into the bedroom and reclaimed her now clean, dry, and folded clothes from the hamper so they could be returned them to her book bag. At the same time, she grabbed herself a roll of parchment, a quill, ink bottle, a book to read, and an apple to munch on. Her wand was then tucked into the back pocket of her pants even as Moody's voice admonished her for endangering her buttocks within in her mind.

Dropping down onto the couch in the living room, Azalea pulled the coffee table closer and used her book and the ink bottle to hold the parchment flat as she drew twenty-eight circles to represent the twenty-eight applicants that had passed Phase Three. She then began filling the circles in with the names and numbers that she recalled; starting with those of herself and her four companions. Right below their five names, she placed the names (if known) and numbers of each of their targets right below each person. She then added the rest of the names and numbers she knew – though most of the circles were left blank since she hadn't really paid all that close attention to any of the other contestants.

Azalea stared at the mostly blank chart for a long minute before she summoned her badge from the bedroom. She then stuck her head out of the tent for a minute and summoned twenty-three rocks that weighed roughly the same amount as her badge. The next three hours were then spent carefully transfiguring the rocks into perfect blank copies of her badge that she could use to switch out with the actual badges of the other applicants. It probably wouldn't have taken her quite that long if she hadn't tired herself out with her destructive training session but the mind numbing casting session had at least enabled her keep her mind off her troubled thoughts.

The sixteen year old would fall asleep on the couch not long after she finished the badges. Her dreams that night bounced between bloody nightmares of what she feared was happening back in England and vague erotic fantasies involving a certain seventeen year old blond with vibrant scarlet eyes.

She was up bright and early the next morning and after a small breakfast of buttered bread, a peach, and two Chocolate Frogs, she spent the day practicing Switching Spells using the blank badges she'd made. She did that by hiding half of the magically created badges all around her camp and then switching them out several times using the remainder of the badges until she could easily pull off the switch without needing to know exactly where the badge was hiding. She then kept practicing until she could pull off the spell both wandlessly and wordlessly.

The sun was setting by the time Azalea was satisfied with her control and the last thing she did before heading inside to make herself a light supper was to check the locations of her scattered companions. She wasn't really surprised to find that they had ended up fairly scattered over the island but she was surprised to find herself a bit disappointed that none of them were close to camp. If that disappointment mostly revolved around a certain blond, well, the witch wasn't about to admit it to herself let alone out loud to another.

Dawn of the fourth day on Zevil Island found Azalea skimming invisibly through the sky over the island on her broom as she hunted for her target for the second day in a row. She'd already collected the badges of numbers one-sixty-seven and two-twenty-two, both of which she'd netted the first time she'd gone out searching the previous day when the two men had come to investigate the destruction Azalea had done on the first day and attempted to ambush her when she stepped outside of her warded camp. It wasn't until near lunch time of the fourth day, that she finally managed to track down and snag number eighty-nine (after she'd stolen two additional badges from another pair that had been stalking each other).

Azalea dropped down in the forest near a towering oak shortly after that and nearly lost an eye as she was unexpectedly attacked by a trio of bowtruckles; the overly large oak turning out to be a magical tree under the protection of the small, distrustful creatures.

She quickly placated the defensive little guys with an offering of woodlice that she'd summoned from the surrounding forest. She then spent two hours propped up against the trunk of the ancient powerful tree as the three critters clambered over her and stole bits of the fruit she had taken out for her lunch as well as begging for more lice. The only reason she lingered as long as she had was because the creatures reminded her of Hogwarts and her friends as they were the first familiar magical creatures (not counting Hedwig) that she'd encountered since the end of her fifth year.

When she finally (and reluctantly) got up to leave, the bowtruckles gifted her with a branch from their tree that was almost as thick as her arm, just over six feet long, and far straighter than expected. Azalea thanked the critters with another bunch of woodlice as she tucked the heavy branch into her book bag. The rest of the afternoon was spent lazily hovering above the island as she lay on her back on her broom and finally allowed herself to think about the kisses she'd shared with Kurapika that first day. The fact that those kisses had haunted her dreams during the past handful of nights almost as often as Voldemort was a big part of the reason why she stopped trying to ignore the matter; that and she knew that there was only one day remaining before Kurapika and the others made their way to her camp.

It was as she watched the sun setting that evening, that Azalea finally admitted, that yes, she was very much attracted to the older teen and she wasn't quite certain how to deal with that revelation. She'd never really given much thought to relationships or love in general and had prided herself on not getting got up in things like that during the last three or four years (unlike her roommates). If she was honest with herself, she'd never really thought she'd ever need to worry about having a love life; her relatives had gone out of their way to brainwash her into believing that she was unlovable and unwanted and that no one could ever love her.

The wizarding world hadn't exactly erased that mental conditioning as they'd been in love with her name and her fortune and ignored her, as a person. They'd also been far too quick to turn on her the moment she did anything that didn't fit with their ideals and their self designed image of what she was supposed to be. The constant hot and cold attitudes of her peers had made socializing outside of the Weasleys and Horatio rather difficult which had further stunted her social and emotional growth.

All of the near death experiences she'd ended up in through the years had only made it harder for Azalea to relate to other people her age as none of them could really understand what she'd been through outside of Ron, Horatio, and Ginny but even they didn't fully understand (though Ginny could almost relate thanks to her experience with Riddle's diary in Azalea's second year).

Azalea could admit to herself, now, that her crush on Cedric had been more about trying to be normal and trying to fit in than it had been about actually looking for a boyfriend. He'd been handsome, he'd been a fellow Quidditch player, and he'd teasingly flirted with her during the few matches she played against Hufflepuff and she'd grabbed hold of the idea he represented with both hands. The fact that he already had a girlfriend that was both older and prettier than Azalea had been crushing and the disaster that had occurred at the end of the third task and resulted in said boy's death had only emphasized to Azalea that she was not and never would be normal.

Hearing the prophecy just hours after Sirius had died had killed any thoughts Azalea might have entertained about getting involved with another person. Or at least it had right up until she'd gotten caught up in a pair of certain scarlet eyes that burned like fire. The problem with the entire situation was that her unexpected feelings for Kurapika didn't change the fact that her fate had already been set in stone.

The prophecy made certain of that.

The frustration and fear she'd felt during that moment on the boat ride over when she'd finally understood the full magnitude of what the prophecy meant for her, for the Dark Lord, and for the wizarding world returned threefold in that instant. Sitting up, Azalea threw back her head and let out the scream of pure frustration and rage that had been festering inside of her since that moment. When the sound of that first scream died, she let out a second scream and this time her magic surged up to carry the scream for miles as she lost herself completely in the negative emotions she was feeling.

She never noticed the bindings that had been placed upon her and her abilities snapping in that moment; the long months of wandless casting she'd been practicing had weakened the spells that had locked away a good portion of her potential. Nor did she notice her scar ripping open as the backlash of her magic snapping its bindings crossed the link she shared with the Dark Lord and stirred Voldemort's anger for the first time in days as her magic caused him pain.

When her second scream finally trailed off, Azalea wept as grief and resignation took the place of the fear and anger. She had no idea how long she sat there with the cold night air chilling her tears as they steadily tracked down her cheeks but when she finally regained control of her emotions, the moon had long since risen and Zevil Island had been washed in darkness. Weary and emotionally drained, Azalea turned and made her way back to her camp.

If she'd been paying any attention to her surroundings, she'd have noticed a large number of people converging in the forest directly beneath where she'd been hovering when she'd screamed; friends and opponents alike had been drawn to the area by the sound of her voice like flies to honey.

That night, Azalea slept out underneath the stars beside the small fire she'd lit after spending several hours talking to Sirius as she stared up at the Dog Star. Her sleep that night would for once be undisturbed by nightmares and fantasies alike as the part of her that had been freed from the bindings integrated itself into her magic and soul where it belonged.

Thousands of miles from where Azalea slept, inside of a rather magical castle that doubled as a school, a weary bearded wizard regretfully placed yet another memory into a crystal vial with a heavy heart as he tried not to think of how many mistakes he'd made over his lifetime. A dozen other similarly filled vials were already tucked inside of a charmed cedar box along with an old pensieve, a ruby encrusted sword, a golden snitch holding a gold ring with a cracked stone, what looked like a silver lighter, and a well worn copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. His blackened right arm throbbed painfully as the curse that was slowly killing him traveled just a little higher and destroyed just a little more of his arm.

Several floors below the bearded wizard, another wizard with long greasy locks stirred a tiny cauldron containing a golden liquid with utmost concentration. Six other cauldrons, each containing a different potion, sat cooling off to one side while several sealed vials were tucked into a simple satchel. Tacked to the wall behind the lab bench above the station that the man was working at, there was a much worn non-magical photograph of a smiling fourteen year old witch with vibrant green eyes and long hair the color of freshly spilled blood.

Far to the south of the castle where the two wizards worked at their self assigned tasks, another pair of younger wizards with identical red hair and freckles, watched over an exhausted snowy owl that had arrived two days earlier in between their efforts of putting together a specialized care package and writing a coded letter that was already two feet long. A dozen gaily wrapped presents, nearly a hundred sealed letters written by several different hands, a box of homemade treats, and several newspaper clippings sat nearby; waiting to be added to the charmed box that the twins were diligently packing.

Hidden in a run down mansion on the outskirts of a small town, near a small private graveyard; a pale bald monster wearing the guise of a man with serpentine features stroked the scales of an unnaturally intelligent viper and sat scowling at the quivering lump on the floor at his feet. A glint of silver reflected in the moonlight as the shivering lump shifted and whimpered before falling still while twelve silent shadows wearing bone white masks nervously shifted in fear of being subjected to their master's wraith. Furious red eyes flashed angrily as the inhuman Dark Lord sought to ignore the pain he'd experienced through the bond he shared with the annoying witch whose death he'd been obsessively seeking for close to fifteen years now.

Unaware of the turmoil a number of those she'd left behind were feeling, Azalea slept on through the night.

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**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	13. Traps x and x Torment

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Thirteen: Traps x and x Torment

'_Bite me and I will tack your tail to a tree and leave you for the crows to find,_' Azalea hissed out in parseltongue to the venomous snake that she had sensed sliding up behind her and poising itself to strike her unprotected neck while pausing between bites of the pear she'd been eating as she sat beneath the rocky outcrop outside of her camp around lunchtime on the fifth day of the Fourth Phase.

'_You speak?_' the rather drab viper asked in surprise as it dropped docilely back to the ground and slithered around to where Azalea could see it.

'_Yes. Why were you going to attack me? I know that I didn't disturb you._'

'_The Binder of Serpents has ordered me to kill you and bring him the flat white not-mouse that you wear upon your not-skin._'

'_Ah. I had wondered who had drawn my number as a target. I will not allow you to bite me but I can give you the badge to take._'

'_I have no choice but to do as I am commanded, Speaker; the Binder has ordered your death and I am bound to obey._'

'_What do you mean you are bound?_' Azalea asked with a frown as she stared down at the snake.

'_The Binder of Serpents has used his life force to tie us to his will and we can not disobey him. I do not wish to kill you for you are a treasured Speaker but I can not disobey his will; only stall the inevitable._'

'_What would it take to set you free?_'

'_His spell must be shed from my mind like an old skin._'

'_I can set you free if you promise not to bite me or any other humans you encounter; unless they seek to harm you first._'

'_Could you free the others as well? They can not leave the burrow to hunt so long as they are bound to the Binder's will and it is unnatural for so many of us to gather in one place during the feeding months._'

'_If you lead me to them, I can free them as well._'

'_Then you have my word that I will not harm any two-legged one that does not harm me first._'

Azalea nodded and balanced her half-eaten pear on her knee before picking up the snake and pulling out her wand. She cast a detection charm to determine what kind of magic had been used to entrap the snake and she scowled when she found something similar to a Compulsion Charm and an Instinct Suppression Charm tied to the snake's mind with a Binding Charm. The only reason she wasn't dead was because the shock of being faced with a parselmouth had freed a small portion of the snake's will.

A simple Cancellation Spell unraveled all three spells and left Azalea frowning as her magic had felt off while casting both spells. The snake shivered and writhed for a moment before it sighed in relief and promptly slipped beneath Azalea's dragon-hide cloak to warm itself.

'_Thank you, Speaker; I am in your debt. I will show you where the others are bound once I have warmed my scales. I spent far too many nights hunting for you when I should have been curled up on the sun warmed rocks._'

'_Fair enough; just let me know when you are ready to leave._'

Azalea had more than enough time to finish her pear, check the current locations of her absent companions (again noting the off feeling of her magic), and write a note for Killua (who'd been steadily moving in her direction all morning) that she tacked to the outside of the tent before the snake announced that it was sufficiently warm enough to lead her to the others. Azalea then slung her book bag over her shoulder and set out on foot as the snake led her away from the camp. She made certain to scan her surroundings every ten to fifteen minutes in order to make certain that she wasn't being followed or that she wasn't about to stumble upon someone unexpectedly (testing her magic with each spell she cast in an effort to figure out why it was behaving oddly).

After she'd been walking for a few hours, Azalea checked on the others again and felt a flash of worry when she noted that Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika appeared to be traveling together in the same direction that the snake was leading Azalea. Killua, on the other hand, had reached the camp and Azalea hoped the twelve year old wouldn't get into trouble but suspected the kid would ignore Azalea's instructions not to mess with anything. The kid grew bored rather easily and a tent full of magical artifacts would be highly tempting after all.

The sun was just about touching the horizon when Azalea stepped into the clearing where a large tunnel led down into the underground cavern where the snakes had been bound against their will. She frowned when she found the clearing empty as she'd expected her remaining three companions to be in the area since this was the location where the Locator Spell had last placed them. She paled a bit when she realized that there was a good possibility that they'd entered the Snake Charmer's trap and she quickly cast Homenum Revelio and cursed when it indicated that there were four people several yards down and to the left of where she was standing.

Growling, Azalea dashed into the tunnel with her wand at the ready as she prayed that the others hadn't been bitten by any of the bewitched vipers. She burst into the cavern just as Kurapika approached the Snake Charmer that was sitting up against the wall at the back of the cavern; barely registering the fact that there was one more person in the room than there should have been. Azalea's heart rose up in her chest as she saw close to two hundred snakes preparing to attack as they dropped down out of the crevices in the back of the wall and the ceiling the blond when he reached out to touch the Snake Charmer.

'_Stop! Back off now!_' Azalea hissed angrily in parseltongue as she leapt over Gon and Leorio so she could grab hold of Kurapika's arm and yank him back away from the potentially deadly fangs of the snakes that had been protecting the Charmer. '_Stand down and stay back!_'

"James?" Gon and Kurapika both cried out in shock.

"Shit, what the hell are you doing here!?" Kurapika demanded a heart beat later as he grabbed hold of the witch and shook her a bit. "How could you stupidly run down here!? Now you're stuck here as well! And do you have any idea how close you came to getting bit just now!? It's bad enough Leorio will die if we don't get him to a doctor soon, do you have any idea what it would do to me if you ended up in the same predicament!?"

"Nice to see you too, Kura," Azalea dryly greeted as she began making certain that the blond hadn't been bit. "If I had known I'd be required to perform my Knight in Shining Armor duties today, I'd have worn my silver armor and brought you a dress to wear since you seem to be playing the part of the damsel in distress so well right now."

"This is no laughing matter, James! This place was a trap and there's no way out," Kurapika hissed as he shook Azalea again before pulling her up against his chest. "I told you that you're not allowed to die here."

"Don't make me hex you in tender places," Azalea retorted as she poked Kurapika in the side to get the blond to loosen his hold. "I'm here to save your bacon because the three of you stupidly walked into the Snake Charmer's trap."

"Wait, you knew this was a trap and came barging in here anyway?"

"Can the two of you stop arguing? Leorio's getting worse," Gon cut in before Azalea could reply to Kurapika's angry question.

"Let me go, Kura," Azalea murmured as she pushed away from the blond and reached for her book bag.

She then dug out her Home Healer's Kit and fished out a bezoar as she hurried over to Leorio. With Gon's help, she sat the taller teen up and shoved the small red stone into his mouth and ordered the man to swallow it before she dug out a bottle of water and told Gon to make certain Leorio drank the entire bottle. The bezoar wouldn't cure the teen but it would prevent him from dying due to the amount of venom he'd been injected with based upon the number of bandaged wrapped bites that she could see peeking out from under Leorio's shirt as it would reduce the toxicity level of the venom running through his veins.

"That should help counter the toxin in the snake venom but it's not a cure. It will be enough to buy him time though."

"How did you know about the trap?" Gon asked once Azalea had finished treating Leorio.

"A little snake told me," Azalea replied absently as she frowned at the man propped up against the wall before she glanced at the woman seated off to one side watching her intently. She then returned her gaze to the Snake Charmer as she tried to figure out what was wrong with the man.

"He's dead," Kurapika stated when he noticed Azalea intently studying the man.

"Good," Azalea replied curtly. "Saves me the hassle of threatening him for what he did to the snakes. That also explains why my count was off by one; dead bodies don't register as human any longer."

"It would have been better if he was still alive because he could have called off his trained pets so we could leave," the woman countered.

"The snakes were not his pets and snakes can't be trained," Azalea countered dismissively. "They can be enticed and entranced but they can not be trained; especially not to the extent where they'd go against their very natures to crowd into an underground cave and attack anyone that tries to leave. These snakes have been bound against their will and they would have starved to death eventually because of that man's arrogance in forcing them to do his dirty work."

'_Speaker…_' a particularly large specimen hissed as it slid across the floor to wrap around Azalea's leg.

'_Yes?_'

'_The one that reeks of your scent told us that you came to set us free; is this true?_'

'_Yes._'

"I didn't know you could speak to snakes, James," Gon exclaimed with excitement. "Can you speak to other animals too? Like owls? Is that how you trained Hedwig? I can understand most animals but snakes never stuck around long enough to talk to me before so I never learned to understand more than a word or two of snake."

"No, it's only snakes that I can speak to and I didn't train Hedwig; she was already trained when I got her," Azalea replied as she watched hundreds of snakes start filling up the room in response to her conversation with the large viper still coiled around her leg. "Please hold any other questions you have and try not to make any sudden moves; the snakes are not exactly happy right now and they are impatiently waiting for me to free them from the spell they are under."

The witch then carefully threaded her way closer to the unfamiliar woman before she hit her with a Stunning Spell. The moment she fell unconscious, hundreds of bees flew out of her hat and attacked Azalea and she cursed loudly as they stung her a dozen times before she banished them into the wall with a wave of her wand; the impact hard enough to crush all of the ones that had not died upon losing their stingers. She scowled at the dead bees while thanking the fluke that had seen her buying a dragon-hide cloak as it had protected her arms and chest from the stingers even if her face, neck, and hands had been left wide open.

"I hate bees," Azalea grumbled as she glanced at the swelling knots on the back of her wand hand where three stingers had been embedded in her flesh.

"How many times were you stung, James?" Kurapika asked in concern.

"At least a dozen times but I'll deal with them later," Azalea replied as she eyed the unconscious woman in search of any sign that she was about to be attacked a second time before she moved up to crouch beside her in order to modify her memory of everything she'd seen her do or say since entering the cavern. She then turned away from her and addressed the snakes that were swarming around her, '_Is this all of you or are there more of you hiding in the walls?_'

'_We are all here, Speaker._'

Azalea nodded and tried to get a rough estimate of just how many snakes there were. She then closed her eyes to center herself in order to pull up a large enough amount of magic cancel the spells binding the snakes to a dead man's will all at the same time. (A precaution to prevent potential attacks in case the snakes had been ordered to attack another magic user attempting to free them.) She was a little surprised to find it far easier to draw upon her magic than it had been just days earlier (the witch still completely unaware of the bindings that had held her back previously).

In a matter of seconds, the diminutive witch was surrounded by a maelstrom of magic that tore her hat from her head, tugged at her dragon-hide cloak, and whipped her hair into a wilder mess than usual. When she opened her eyes a minute later, her irises had turned completely gold from the amount of magic that saturated her body. She cast the Cancellation Spell just seconds later and cried out in pain as the inordinately large amount of magic she'd been channeling through her wand unexpectedly overloaded the focus almost immediately; causing the wand to catch fire in her hand even as her spell washed over all of the snakes present and released them from the Snake Charmer's spells.

'_Thank you, Speaker; we shall not forget our debt to you,_' the large snake wrapped around her leg hissed as the snakes began leaving the cave in a flood now that they were no longer bound against their will.

The huge viper left seconds after it finished speaking and Azalea collapsed to her knees, dropped her still burning wand, and cradled her wounded hand against her belly as her magic quickly dissipated now that she no longer needed it. Ice cold fear washed over the sixteen year old as she stared at the smoldering remains of her holly wand and tears pricked the back of her eyes as she watched the wand crumble apart as the last of the flames died. That wand had carried her through five years of schooling and saved her life more than once and it felt like some part of her had died as she watched it being destroyed.

She let out a strangled whine when she realized she was now virtually defenseless due to the loss before she blanched at the realization that whatever protection that wand had offered her against Voldemort's wand (because of the connection their wands shared) was also gone.

"No… no, no, no… _no, no, no,_" Azalea begged as she stared at the charred pieces of her ruined wand in horror as her tears broke free and poured down her face. "No, this can't be happening. This isn't happening… it's not real… this has to be another nightmare… don't let this be real… Merlin but this can't be happening… not real, not real, it's not real…"

"James…? James? _James?_ _**James**__!_"

Azalea never heard Kurapika trying to get her attention until the blond dropped down in front of her and lightly slapped her on the face. The older teen then crushed Azalea to him in a hug as he muttered, "Jesus, James, don't ever do that again! Are you alright? Did any of the snakes bite you?"

"I'm buggered," Azalea whispered hoarsely as she began trembling as shock set in. "I'm well and truly buggered. I'm so far buggered that it ain't even funny. No… I'm worse than buggered… I'm dead. I'm nothing but a walking target. I'm so dead."

"Shut up, James!" Kurapika hissed angrily as he leaned back to lightly slap her a second time to try and break her out of her panic attack.

"You don't understand! It's gone! My _wand_ is gone! I have nothing! A witch is _nothing_ without her wand and I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way to protect myself because my _wand_ just burnt itself up!"

"So all of your magic was tucked up in that little twig?" Leorio asked from where he'd been leaning against Gon, the taller teen having recovered some of his strength thanks to the bezoar.

"No, the magic is inside of the witch or wizard but it takes a wand to draw it out."

"You never used your wand during the game with Mr. Netero," Gon pointed out. "You haven't really used your wand that much at all since the Exam started."

"That's different; the spells I was casting wandlessly might as well have been parlor tricks for all the good they'd do me in a real fight. Without my wand the number of spells I can cast dropped from over two hundred and fifty to a whopping fifteen."

"Was that the only wand in existence?" Kurapika demanded as he gave her a little shake.

"Don't be daft, Kura, of course it wasn't the only wand; all witches and wizards get a wand once they start school."

"Then it can be replaced."

"No it can't. That one was special… I _needed_ that one. Even if I could replace it, there's the little matter of me being thousands of miles from the nearest wand shop. And this stupid exam still isn't over! How the hell am I supposed to pass if I can't even protect myself?"

"You can start by calming down," Kurapika dryly pointed out as he slipped an arm under Azalea's legs and picked her up off the floor before climbing to his feet. "Panicking isn't going to do you any good. As for protection, we're not about to send you off on your own just because you're currently limited with what you can do and you have other skills that can be developed. Now, were you or were you not bit by any of the snakes? And how badly was your hand burned after your wand caught fire?"

"No, I wasn't bit; the snakes were just happy to be freed from the spells the Snake Charmer had used to force them to do his bidding. And I don't know how bad my hand is; all I know is that it bloody well hurts."

"Right, first things first; Gon, grab the badges from Bourbon and Ponzu and see if Bourbon has any antivenin on him so we can finish treating Leorio. Then we need to get out of here and find some place safe where we can tend to James's hand before we head towards the outcrop so we can meet back up with Killua."

Five minutes and a shot of antivenin later, Kurapika was carrying Azalea up out of the cavern (much to the witch's chagrin) while Gon helped Leorio who was still a bit weak. Night had fallen by the time they exited the tunnel and after a brief debate, the four of them chose to put a few miles between them and the underground cave in order to avoid dealing with the woman if she happened to regain consciousness any time soon.

"I can walk, you know," Azalea pointed out several minutes later when it became clear that Kurapika had no intention of putting her down any time soon.

"Don't care," Kurapika retorted in a clipped tone. Azalea huffed and crossed her arms as she tried not to think about what had happened down in the cavern. A few minutes later, Kurapika broke the silence as he quietly demanded, "Who attacked you yesterday and how badly were you hurt?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? What do you mean who attacked me?"

"I heard you scream. In fact, I'm pretty certain everyone within fifty miles of Zevil Island heard you scream."

"No one attacked me," Azalea wearily replied as she shivered a bit over the memory of losing control of her emotions the night before. "I was just feeling a little overwhelmed at the time."

"A little overwhelmed?" Kurapika repeated incredulously as he almost tripped over his feet. "Jesus, that's like saying there were only a few snakes in the cave just now! What the hell happened?"

"I spent most of yesterday afternoon just thinking."

"Thinking? You were just thinking…? About what? I mean what could you have possibly been thinking about that could have been so terrible that you had to scream like that?"

"Same thing I was thinking about on the way over when you thought I'd lied to you."

"Oh."

"I thought a lot about what you wanted me to think about too."

"And…?" Kurapika prompted as he stopped walking and glanced down to meet Azalea's emerald gaze.

"I still feel so confused and there's no point in pretending that I'm not frightened. I have no real experience to speak of when it comes to things like relationships and the one person I thought that I'd had a crush on two years ago was more about me desperately trying to be normal than it was about actually wanting to be with that person. I know I've never really felt comfortable over the prospect of dating but that was more because I could never be sure whether those pursuing me were interested in me as a person or if they were just interested in my status. I told myself that I didn't need or want a relationship and fully believed that would always be the case right up until you caught me off guard and left me floundering."

"You're babbling, kitten," Kurapika pointed out with a soft laugh as he resumed walking once more; a small smile playing about his lips.

Azalea huffed as a blush stole across her face both for being caught babbling and for the nickname. Her embarrassment didn't last for very long as her thoughts were inevitably drawn back to the unfair mess that was her life. Anger, despair, frustration, desperation, resignation, and fear warred with the tiny sliver of hope and determination that had carried her this far in her quest for strength and guidance.

After they'd gone another twenty yards, Azalea spoke up once more; her voice low and pained as she forced herself to make her position perfectly clear to the teen carrying her, "I hate it. I hate that I had to meet you now, of all times. Why? Why now? Why not a year ago when I still had hope that I could be just like any other teenager out there? Why not two years ago when I still believed that the good guys always win? Why couldn't I have met you when I was still ignorant of what has been expected of me from the moment I was marked by a madman? It's not fair."

"Life never is fair," Kurapika murmured as he slowed to a stop once more.

"You think I don't know that!? I've known that all my life!" Azalea ranted as she pushed away from the teen and ended up tumbling onto the ground because Kurapika hadn't expected her to push away. Scrambling up onto her feet, Azalea vented her frustration much as she had the summer before her fifth year after the fiasco with the dementors; her voice steadily rising as everything she'd been bottling up exploded out. "I'm sick to death of all the examples I've been given of just how unfair life is! I am utterly tired of always standing on the outside looking in while the rest of the damned world lives on without a goddamned care! And I am weary beyond belief of having to force myself to pretend that it doesn't matter! To smile when all I want to do is curl up in a ball and die because it hurts so much."

Azalea took several ragged breaths as her words hung in the air for a moment longer before they faded away. She then turned away from Kurapika as she continued in a much softer voice that was laced with pain and regret, "I could have gone the rest of my life happily never knowing just what I was missing. I knew what I was supposed to do and that was all I needed or wanted to know. A week ago, my life was simple and I had everything planned out; get my Hunter's License, find someone to train me, and then go home to end Voldemort's reign of terror."

"A week ago, there was nothing that would have stopped me from sacrificing myself if there was even the slightest of chances that doing so would save lives. A week ago, I was content to go through life by merely existing. A week ago, I had been convinced that I had accepted the fate that had been thrust upon me the night my parents sacrificed themselves for me. It was simple and straight forward and something I had always suspected deep down in my soul; kill or be killed. It's not that simple though and it never was; I just never realized that until recently."

"Now…? Now, I've had a taste of what I've been missing all my life. Now, I know what it feels like to be alive. Now, I have something I want. Now…? Now, I am trapped in a nightmare of my own making," Azalea wearily stated as she glanced back over her shoulder to where Kurapika was watching her with an unreadable look. "I hate knowing that no matter how much I might want to explore what it is that you are offering that I can't accept it because I will leave the moment I get what I need. And I might not even stay that long; depending on the answer Hedwig brings me when she finally returns."

"Why would knowing you have to leave stop you from accepting what I was offering?"

"Because I'm terrified that I won't be able to leave when the time comes for me to go if I let myself grow attached to whatever it is that draws me to you despite knowing that my staying would condemn thousands of innocents to a fate worse than death."

"So your answer is no?"

Azalea let her shoulders sag in defeat as she looked away from the older teen and slowly began walking towards where Gon and Leorio stood frozen in shock after having witnessed the entire drama unfolding. She avoided meeting their gaze and didn't bother stopping when she reached their side; she knew they'd either follow her or they'd split off and go their own way. She probably would have just continued right on walking all through the night if not for the pain in her right hand from when her wand had caught fire growing near unbearable.

Out of habit, she reached for her wand to scan the clearing she'd stumbled across into only to recall that she no longer had a wand. She felt so helpless in that moment that she didn't know whether to scream or cry. In the end, she simply sat down beside the nearest tree and leaned back against its trunk as she dug into her book bag for her Healer's Kit and a bottle of water. She spent a moment rinsing her hand off with the water before she carefully dried it on one of her spare shirts and attempted to wrap it with gauze.

"Are you trying to make your hand worse?" Kurapika demanded in a gruff voice as he walked up and slapped Azalea on the back of the head before taking the gauze from her while Gon and Leorio made and lit several torches that they stuck in the ground near the witch so they could use their light to inspect her injuries. "Jesus, James, why didn't you tell us your hand was that big of a mess!?"

"I didn't know," Azalea replied as she stared at the burns that covered her entire right hand; the witch nearly gagging as she stared at the charred bits of skin on her palm where the handle of her wand had been touching her skin when it caught fire.

"We're going to have to remove the charred bits of skin and flesh as well as the stingers; otherwise infection will set in and there's still roughly thirty-two hours before the Fourth Phase ends," Leorio stated as he examined the hand. "That's assuming that you aren't going to quit now to seek medical attention or due to the lack of a wand."

"I can't quit," Azalea tiredly insisted as she stared at her near ruined hand with morbid fascination.

"Do you still have those packs of Tylenol in your left pocket?" Kurapika asked as he moved out of Leorio's way.

"Yeah."

"Give him two full packs, Kurapika; there's too much nerve damage and if he isn't feeling the pain now, he will soon enough when I start washing his hand and removing the dead bits."

"Got it."

"What can I do to help?" Gon asked.

"I need you to make certain that no one sneaks up on us," Leorio instructed as he glanced at the twelve year old.

Azalea felt Kurapika place one hand on her chest just below her bound breasts while the other rummaged around in her pocket for the pain killers and Azalea couldn't help but shiver as she dropped her head back against the tree and closed her eyes. Both hands were gone just seconds later and she swallowed the disappointed whine she wanted to let out over the loss of contact even as she silently castigated herself for acting like a fool. She felt something press up against her lips and she automatically reached up to swat it away only for a hand to grab firm hold of her wrist.

"Open your mouth, James," Kurapika instructed as she opened her eyes to find the blond watching her with stern brown eyes as he held a pair of pain pills to her mouth.

After a slight hesitation, Azalea complied and tasted the bitterness of the chalky pills as they were pushed into her mouth and she was quick to swallow them if only to get rid of the taste. The process was repeated a second time and she let her eyes fall closed once more as she tried to ignore the bitter taste coating her tongue. Her attention was just drifting back to the throbbing pain she still felt in her hand when she felt something else pushed up against her mouth followed by a soft order to drink. Water splashed into her mouth the moment she did as instructed and she gladly swallowed the cool liquid to wash away the lingering bitterness from the pills.

"Kurapika, help me get him out of that jacket so the sleeve won't get in my way. And then I'm going to need you to hold him so that I can start cleaning his hand."

The words barely registered in Azalea's mind when she felt the slight tugging of her cloak being unbuttoned. She tried to help but had her hand pushed back out of the way twice before she gave up. She felt someone tugging on her left sleeve the moment the buttons had all been undone and she automatically pulled her arm out and leaned forward as the cloak was pulled off from around her back. Azalea made to lean back against the tree as the right sleeve was pulled free of her arm only to feel someone pushing her forward as they slipped behind her.

She made a single attempt to move away from the person as some small part of her registered who it was sitting so close to her but she was stopped by Leorio's hand on her shoulder. Azalea was then being pulled tightly up against Kurapika's chest as the blond wrapped his left arm around her stomach and his right hand firmly grabbed hold of Azalea's right elbow while the blond's legs bracketed Azalea's. There was no time for her to worry about the rather intimate position as the moment Kurapika uttered a firm 'ready,' pain exploded in her hand as Leorio began cutting away the blackened bits of skin and muscle tissue from her palm.

"Try to focus on something else, James; it will help you to ignore the pain," Kurapika's voice whispered into her ear as Azalea cried out sharply and instinctively struggled against the hands holding her so that she could escape the pain.

Azalea latched onto the suggestion and the distraction that the blond's voice offered as she raggedly demanded, "Why aren't you angry with me?"

"Why would I be angry?"

"The things I said… I basically just stomped all over your feelings and… and I threw your offer back in your face!"

"No, you didn't; you were venting your frustration and giving voice to your insecurities. You chose to walk away instead of actually telling me no after you freely admitted that you were as interested in me as I am in you. And you also forgot one very important thing."

"Huh? What do you…?"

"You forgot that you are not the only one who has obligations waiting for them on the other side of the Exam. Whether or not I get my Hunter's License, I will be leaving to continue my hunt for the Phantom Troupe; alone."

"I hadn't forgotten about that," Azalea countered around a hiss as Leorio moved to work on a particularly tender part of her palm before he turned her hand over to carefully scrap the three stingers out of her hand. "I just thought it would be crass of me to bring it up. I also didn't want to make it sound like I was using your desire to avenge your clan as an excuse."

"Silly, kitten, I told you before that you don't have to protect my feelings."

Azalea opened her mouth to reply only for her words to be forgotten in a rush of pain as Leorio started to wash her hand now that most of the dead skin and all of the stingers on that hand had been removed. Searing agony shot through her hand and up her arm and she fought against the hands holding her in an effort to escape the pain. Her magic lashed out in response to the pain a moment later and Leorio yelped as he was zapped by a jolt of electricity. Azalea dropped back against Kurapika and panted heavily as the pain she had been feeling dropped down to a persistent throbbing ache.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're a rather shocking person, James?" Leorio asked petulantly as he gingerly reclaimed Azalea's right wrist so that he could finish treating Azalea's wounds.

Azalea merely whimpered in response as she began wriggling against the hands holding her again as her memory of the pain prompted her to fight against the mere thought of feeling it a second time. She stopped squirming a heartbeat later as she was distracted by the unexpected feeling of Kurapika's lips being pressed to the back of her neck. She shivered a bit as the blond nuzzled her neck before pressing several more kisses to her skin and Azalea let out a whimpered moan as she unconsciously tilted her head to one side in an open invitation.

Heat washed through the witch as Kurapika didn't hesitate to take advantage of the opening offered as he gently nipped and suckled at the exposed side of Azalea's neck. The witch was so wrapped up in what the blond was doing to her with his mouth that she never even felt the sting of the antiseptic as Leorio finished cleaning her hand. By the time Leorio rinsed her hand off with cold water twice more and loosely wrapped it up in several layers of gauze, Azalea had relaxed enough that the double dose of pain medication she'd taken earlier finally knocked her out completely; leaving the older teen free to remove the rest of the stingers from her neck and face without any interference.

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**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	14. Discussions x and x Desire

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Fourteen: Discussions x and x Desire

Azalea wearily trudged through the wards protecting her camp two hours after noon the next day with Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika on her heels. She was a bit surprised to find the tent still standing when she'd fully expected Killua to have burned it down or something during the past twenty four hours. She paused to scan the camp for any sign of the twelve year old before she ducked into the tent. Inside, she found Killua sitting at the kitchen table nibbling on Bertie Bott's Beans while flipping through one of the books Azalea had left sitting around the tent.

She paused to blink at the kid before she shook her head and made her way towards the bedroom and the shower. Two minutes later, she heard the gasps and exclamations from the three entering the tent behind her; the witch hadn't thought to tell them about the magical tent. She would have smirked over their reaction if not for the fact that she was bone weary and in pain again. Once in the bedroom, Azalea dumped her book bag on the bed and slipped off her cloak before she carefully stripped out of both of her shirts.

"How did you get the scars on the back of your left shoulder? And why do you have bandages wrapped around your chest? Have you been hiding an old injury all this time?"

Azalea jumped a bit at the unexpected question as she pressed her shirts to her chest and whipped around to find that Kurapika had followed her into the bedroom. She then blushed self-consciously when she noted the way the other teen was running his eyes over her half dressed form. Turning away from the blond, she dug into her book bag for a clean set of clothes that she used to hide her bound chest before she dropped her dirty shirts into the hamper while she gave an evasive answer.

"I lost track of what I was doing and then didn't move out of the way fast enough. And no, I don't have any old injuries."

"What was it you were doing? And you still didn't say why you're chest is wrapped in a thick layer of gauze."

"Playing tag while flying," Azalea quipped as she briefly glanced over her shoulder with a self-depreciating grin while ignoring the pointed comment about her bindings. "My opponent was more than a little annoyed with me and she took great offense to my very existence."

"Why do I get the feeling that I am missing something?" Kurapika asked with a frown as his eyes returned to the three marks that marred Azalea's back.

"Why do you say that?"

"You're deliberately leaving out a considerable amount of details."

"I am?"

"Yes, you are; which means that you probably did something really stupid and you are too embarrassed to admit it."

"Not quite," Azalea sighed as she headed towards the bathroom. "I just don't like discussing my scars or talking about the things that happened in my fourth year."

"You could have just told me that you didn't want to talk about it."

"I just did."

"Uh-huh and what was all that about not being fast enough while making references to playing tag with angry people?"

"I guess I'm just so used to everyone around me always knowing everything about me and the things that I've done that I forgot that you don't really know anything about me or about the wizarding world in general aside from what little I've told you. And um… is there a reason why you followed me into the bathroom? Actually, why did you follow me into the bedroom in the first place?"

"The answer to both questions is that we never finished our discussion."

"Er… what discussion?"

"The one we were supposed to have yesterday about what is going on between us."

"We already talked about that."

"No, we never actually got around to discussing things."

"I distinctly remember there was talking involved at one point."

"True enough; I also remember there being a bit of yelling on your part as well."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take my frustration out on you; I was just so…"

"Frustrated?" Kurapika finished dryly with a small grin that made Azalea snort softly in amusement. "And you don't have to apologize; I knew you weren't yelling at me and at the time I got the impression that you needed a chance to vent a little. Since the day I met you, I've noticed that you have a tendency to bottle up your emotions until they explode rather spectacularly the moment someone or something sets you off."

"Is that your way of calling me a drama queen?"

"I still say you'd look adorable in a dress."

"Don't make me…" Azalea began before she trailed of uncomfortably as glanced down at her bandaged wrapped right hand.

"James…?"

"Sorry… I just realized that it's rather pointless to threaten to hex you in tender places right now."

"The loss of your wand really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does. I realize it might not seem that big of a deal to you but that wand has played a huge part in my life for the last five and half, six years and to suddenly be without it… it's unsettling. Like someone just cut off my hand; it was that much a part of me."

"You did very well without it during the first three tasks."

"Not true, I used it whenever the need arose. I never would have been able to heal Leorio without my wand. It bothers me to know that I won't be able to heal anyone else if they got seriously injured. Sure, I have a few wandless tricks I can use but I only felt confident using them because I knew I had my wand to fall back on."

"Don't you have any other skills aside from your magic to fall back on?"

"I can run pretty fast when I have to but only for short distances."

"You don't have any physical fighting skills at all?"

"Nope, not a one; unless you count dodging spell-fire as a fighting skill."

"Do any wizards know any self defense that doesn't involve a wand?"

"A few of them play with swords, I think."

"Are you one of them?"

"I did swing a sword around once but when compared to what I've seen you do with that pair of wooden swords you carry, my performance with a real sword was really rather pathetic."

"Yesterday you said something about finding someone to train you; what kind of training is it that you are looking to get? I mean, are you looking for another magical Hunter to train you to fight better with your magic or are you looking for some other skill that could help you?"

"I don't know. When I left, all I had was this vague idea that I could find someone to give me the training that I wasn't getting through Hogwarts. Brewing hair removing potions, herding nifflers, or learning how to turn a mouse into a snuffbox is all well and good for normal students but those things won't help me go toe to toe with a seventy-something year old Dark Lord that would love nothing better than to dance upon my bloody corpse."

"How much time are you willing to invest in your training?"

"If I can find someone to train me…? I'd have until roughly the end of July because I'd need time to get home before the next school year starts. I can't risk being gone any longer than that because Voldemort won't be content to just sit around and wait for me to keep getting stronger. I'm certain he's already started attacking key individuals in order to prevent them from getting in his way as well as attacking anyone with a connection to me because he hopes to flush me out."

"Then let me teach you how to use a pair of bokken," Kurapika suggested insistently as he moved closer. "If I remember correctly, you did say something about wanting to get yourself a pair of them."

"Why would you…?"

"Because I'm selfish," Kurapika replied lowly as he pushed Azalea up against the wall behind her and planted his hands to either side of her as he leaned down so that his mouth was hovering just inches away from hers. "I want to keep you close to me for as long as possible and because I hated seeing you sink into a panic attack after you lost your wand."

Kurapika's mouth claimed Azalea's a heartbeat later and Azalea let out a soft squeak of surprise before she let herself get caught up in the kiss. She moaned softly just seconds later when Kurapika slid a hand around the back of her neck to tangle his fingers in her hair while moving closer so that his body was lightly pressing up against Azalea's. Her clean clothes fell to the floor unheeded as her hands braced themselves against Kurapika's chest when the blond deepened the kiss to plunder her mouth with his tongue; her mind ignoring the brief spike of pain shooting through her injured hand.

Kurapika then coaxed Azalea into exploring his mouth in return with gentle teasing touches of his tongue against hers. It was a rather heady experience that took her breath away when the older teen moaned appreciatively in response to her tentative forays. The seventeen year old then broke their kiss to press kisses down Azalea's neck and over her collarbone while his free hand settled itself on Azalea's waist. Azalea trembled under the sensations assaulting her senses and she moaned softly as she felt heat pooling in her belly and between her legs as his lips moved against her bare skin.

She trembled again when she felt the calloused hand on her waist sliding higher until it reached the bottom edge of the bandages wrapped around her chest. Azalea made a brief noise of protest in the back of her throat when his thumb slid beneath the bandages while alarms began blaring in the back of her mind as a small part of her suddenly realized that she was close to being unmasked as a girl. That part of her was silenced a moment later as Kurapika let his hand drop away from her as he pulled back a bit in response to her wordless protest.

"James…?"

"Too much… too soon… too fast," Azalea murmured weakly as she dropped her head forward to rest against his chest while she tried to catch her breath; her entire body trembling. "I don't… I'm not… I mean I never… and I can't… but I want… and it's… complicated."

"You don't have to explain, kitten," Kurapika replied as he reached up to tenderly stroke her hair. "I should not have allowed myself to get carried away and for that, I am sorry. Will you be alright?"

"I'm fine," Azalea automatically replied after taking a shaky breath to bring her emotions somewhat under control.

"Are you really? Or is that just what you think I want to hear? I can still feel you trembling, you know."

"Yes, I'm really fine. I just… I'd never felt so… and you're the first to ever…"

"I'm the first to what?" Kurapika asked curiously when Azalea trailed off.

"You were the first person to ever kiss me," Azalea replied with a blush as she hunched her shoulders a bit. "A few of my more enthusiastic fans have tried before but I always managed to fend them off with the help of my friends and I've never been shy about hexing the more persistent ones in tender places. I honestly don't know why I didn't hex you the moment you first touched your lips to mine back on the day we first arrived on the island."

"You'll not hear me complain about a lack of hexing."

"Are you sure? I mean I could, if you really wanted me to…"

"I'm quite certain I'm very pleased over not getting hexed for daring to kiss you, kitten," Kurapika replied with a soft laugh as he buried his nose in Azalea's hair as the witch snickered softly. "So tell me, did your first kiss live up to your expectations?"

"Are you fishing for compliments?"

"No, but I won't turn one down. I actually wanted to make certain that you'd enjoyed yourself as much as I did."

"Oh, in that case, it was rather nice."

"Just nice…?"

"Fine, your kisses are bloody amazing, alright? I've never felt so… so alive. They're better than flying and I'd always thought flying was as good as it got," Azalea admitted as her earlier blush returned threefold to spread down her neck.

The blond laughed as he pulled away again and gently tugged on the back of Azalea's hair in order to get her to look up at him. The moment she did, Kurapika captured her lips in a tender kiss that sole her breath away just as easily as his earlier kisses had and if not for the fact that the taller teen still had her half pressed up against the wall, she would have ended up sprawled on the floor when her legs turned to jelly. When the kiss ended a few minutes later, Azalea released a small sigh and let her head fall back against the wall as she tried to catch her breath.

"I think it's safe to say that I am more than just alright knowing my kisses affect you to such a degree, James. But before I allow myself to get sidetracked by your delectable lips once more, I'd like to know whether or not you're going to take me up on my offer."

"Offer?" Azalea repeated with no small amount of confusion, her brain still in the process of trying to reboot.

"Yes, offer; you know the one I gave you earlier? When I told you I'd be willing to train you?"

"Oh… that offer," Azalea replied as she shook her head to clear away the cobwebs enough to think coherently. She let out a small annoyed growl when she caught the amused and self-satisfied grin playing about Kurapika's lips; the witch just knew the blond was pleased with himself for distracting her so thoroughly. She then sighed as she gave his offer some serious consideration before tentatively asking, "Can you explain to me exactly what it is you would be teaching me if I agree?"

"To start with, I'd have you work on increasing your physical fitness; which would include a more balanced diet and regular meals. Once there was less of a risk of you harming yourself due to less than perfect health, I'd start teaching you the basic aikido stances and katas before introducing you to swords and sword stances. I'd also teach you how to make your own bokken as it is important that you know your swords before you attempt to use them and there is no better way to learn everything there is to know about a sword than to make it yourself."

Kurapika paused a moment before he continued, "I won't lie; you may well hate me by the end of the first week but if I'm limited to roughly six or seven months to whip you into shape, then I'm going to have to push you to your breaking point over and over again and there will be blood, sweat, and tears involved every step of the way. You have to be willing to make the effort or there is no point in accepting."

"I'll need time to work on my spell casting once I figure out what I'm going to do about a wand," Azalea pointed out as she considered everything Kurapika had told her; part of her already accepting his offer because she didn't know how long it would be until she got another offer of training and because the idea of staying with the blond for several more months was far more appealing than it should have been.

"That will not be a problem. We'll start the real physical training once your hand is healed. In the mean time, we can start working on your diet and maybe focus on light stretches so that by the time I start you on conditioning exercises, you're body will already be getting the protein, vitamins, and minerals it needs to keep up and be limber enough to deal with the workouts I will put you through."

"Exactly what kind of diet are we talking about?" Azalea asked warily as she recalled Dahlia's diet from a few years back.

"We'll start simple by adding a little more protein, vitamin rich foods, and possibly add in a few supplements in addition to making certain you that eat three meals a day. We'll increase your portion sizes gradually so that we don't make you sick."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"Glad to hear you approve," Kurapika retorted dryly as he teasingly poked Azalea in the side. "Now that that is settled; what shall we do about us… hmm?"

"What do you mean?"

"We've already established that we're both interested in one another… but while I'm perfectly content to have a physical relationship with you with no strings attached, I have no clue if you feel the same way. It might sound callous of me but I'm not looking to invest myself emotionally in a relationship and I'm not about to make any long term commitments until my clan has been avenged and I have recovered their eyes so that they might finally rest in peace. That's one of the reasons why I told you not to worry about hurting my feelings."

"So, what you're saying is that you just want sex from me?" Azalea asked with a small frown as she folded her arms protectively over her chest and dropped her gaze to Kurapika's chest in order to hide the small flash of pain that his declaration caused her.

"No, I value your friendship as well and if you hadn't been interested in me like that, then I would have let it go and been content to just stay friends. However, I am attracted to you and not just because you're an adorable little kitten; you're intelligent, you've got a rather warped sense of humor, you're a capable leader when you're not holding yourself back, and you're one of the few that I can relate to and who can relate to me. You also remind me of someone I once knew."

"Oh."

"So?"

Azalea pursed her lips as she considered exactly what it was that Kurapika was suggesting. She wasn't certain how she should feel about it because she wasn't certain just how she felt about the idea of casual sex. It didn't help that she'd grown up with the Dursleys who made it perfectly clear that any inappropriate behavior on her part would see her out on the streets faster than you could say snap. The wizarding world was even more uptight about the concept of physical intimacy outside of marriage (though that didn't stop underage witches and wizards from fooling around a bit; they just rarely ever went so far as to actually engage in sex – unless a boy was looking to ruin a girl for personal reasons or the pair were under a marriage contract). There was also the fact that she didn't know if there'd ever be another chance for her to have any kind of relationship given the prophecy looming over her head.

"I'm willing to let you decide just how far things go between us and knowing just how little experience you've had, I will try not to rush things so as not to make you uncomfortable," Kurapika softly stated as he leaned forward to nuzzle Azalea's neck just below her left ear. "I won't ever force you into doing anything you aren't certain you want to do."

"I don't know," Azalea breathed uncertainly as she closed her eyes and tipped her head to the side to give Kurapika better access to her neck; wanting to feel the things he made her feel even as her mind focused on what it was he was asking of her. "If my aunt and uncle ever found out about me just kissing you… if they were to suspect I'd even thought about doing more, let alone allowing you certain liberties… If I ended up…" _pregnant_, Azalea tacked on in her mind, "they'd kick me out of the house in a heartbeat. Not that I actually have any plans to live their house full time once I reach my majority…"

Kurapika pulled back a bit and studied her with concern as she continued, "And that's nothing compared to what the wizarding world would do if anyone learned I'd had a casual affair; the entire magical society is stuck in the Victorian Era when it comes to matters of courtship and marriage. They'd brand me a…" _harlot, a woman with loose morals, a whore_, she added silently as she brought her left hand up to cup her right shoulder and shivered. "Just standing here with you like this, with me only half dressed, would be enough to see me ostracized and shunned even more so than I was when the entire school found out I could speak to snakes in my second year."

"It's alright, James; I already told you I'm not going to push you into doing anything you don't want and…"

"That's just it…" Azalea cried out softly as she averted her face. "I do want to do more than just kiss. I want to feel the things you make me feel. I just… I've been told all my life that it is wrong to want those things, that it is inappropriate for me to feel the way I do, and that I should be ashamed of myself for wishing otherwise. And I'm scared because even though I know it's wrong, I still want it."

"Prejudices run deep in any society," Kurapika murmured as he pulled her into his arms and held her tenderly; the blond thinking that Azalea was referring to the stigma of same sex relationships while she was actually referring to the unwritten law that the only witches worth marrying were those that were still untarnished… still innocent and still virginal. "We don't have to do anything you think you might later regret."

Azalea tensed briefly before she relaxed into Kurapika's chest; the sixteen year old relishing the comfort and security she found in the gentle embrace (which was quite different than Horatio's power hugs, Ron's borderline inappropriate hugs, or Mrs. Weasley's smothering hugs). She let out a soft sigh and pressed her face into the crook of Kurapika's shoulder as she let the warmth of his arms encircling her chase away her fears and insecurities.

They were interrupted two minutes later as Leorio pounded on the door and asked, "Is everything was alright in there?"

Azalea let out a whine of complaint as Kurapika pulled away and half turned from her to call out, "Yes, everything is just fine, Leorio."

"Good to know, can the two of you hurry up; Gon and I would like to have a chance to shower too."

The witch pouted when Kurapika removed his arms completely and stepped away from her, taking the pleasant heat of his body with him, and the seventeen year old chuckled before pressing a brief kiss to her lips before instructing, "Take your shower, kitten."

Kurapika was gone two seconds later and Azalea thumped her head back against the wall and let out an explosive sigh as she wondered if she knew what she was doing. She shook her head a moment later and pushed away from the wall so she could turn on the shower before she stripped out of her pants and unwound the gauze that flattened and hid her undersized breasts (another sore point thanks to her stunted growth; though their small size did make it easier for her to pass herself off as a boy). Exactly twenty-two minutes later, Azalea walked out of the bathroom with her still damp hair sticking up all over the place wearing clean clothes and dumped her soiled pants into the hamper to be cleaned.

She then headed out into the living area of the tent in order to let the others know the bathroom was clear. She found the others seated around the kitchen table eating sandwiches that had been made from the supplies that came out of the stasis box. She couldn't help the blush that painted her face when Kurapika glanced up at her and smiled. The blush only deepened when she caught the knowing smirk that Leorio sent her way as the nineteen year old stuffed the last bit of his sandwich into his mouth and climbed to his feet in order to go take a shower.

"Come sit down and eat, kitten," Kurapika ordered as he patted the chair beside him where an extra plate had been set.

"Kitten…?" Killua repeated incredulously before the twelve year old burst out laughing.

Azalea narrowed her eyes briefly before she smirked; looks like she might have finally found a reason to break into the box of prank supplies that the twins had given to her before she left England. She wiped the expression from her face a moment later as she sauntered across the room and slid into the seat beside Kurapika. All thoughts of paybacks and pranks flew from her head a moment later when Kurapika addressed her once more.

"After you've finished eating, I want to take you out into the forest to search for a decent sized oak, walnut, or cherry tree; an old one with fairly straight branches preferably."

"Why?"

"To get the wood that you'll need to make your bokken. You can practice carving on pine or other soft woods but you'll want a solid hardwood for the actual blades otherwise they'll crack and splinter the first time you use them in a spar or a real fight."

"How big of a piece would I need?"

"At least three or four feet for each sword and we'll need to make certain the pieces we collect aren't twisted or full of knots."

"Those crafty little buggers, I wonder how they knew?" Azalea mused as she thought back to the oversized branch that the bowtruckles had gifted her with after she'd spent the afternoon feeding and playing with them. "I had wondered why they'd given me a branch from their tree at the time; especially one so large."

She then jumped up and dashed back to the room to grab her book bag before returning to the kitchen. She set the bag down on the table and took a moment to rifle through everything until she found the large branch she'd been given by the bowtruckles a few days earlier. She tugged on the branch and pulled it out of the bag with some difficulty using only one hand.

"Will this do, Kura?" Azalea asked as she grinned at the stunned expression on Kurapika's face as she propped the end of the branch on the floor and leaned against it.

"Okay, am I the only one here that thinks there's something seriously wrong with him pulling that out of his little bag of tricks?" Killua demanded as he picked his jaw up off the floor. "There's no way that should have been able to fit inside of that little bag no matter how good you are at packing."

"That was so cool, what else are you hiding in there, James?" Gon asked as he dashed around the table to peer inside of the bag only for him to end up getting zapped by the protective charms yet again when he couldn't resist reaching out to pull the mouth of the bag open wider.

"Killua, there's no way a one bedroom apartment would fit inside of a one-man tent and yet here we are," Kurapika pointed out as he got up to inspect the branch Azalea had taken out of her bag. "Where did you get that, James? When did you get it?"

"It was given to me two days ago by the bowtruckles that were protecting the huge oak I found on the other side of the island. At the time I thought it odd that they'd given me anything but now I wonder if they knew I'd need this."

"What's a bowtruckle?"

"It's a forest dwelling creature that acts like something of a guardian for the tree it makes it home in; a bowtruckle will typically seek out trees with magical properties and it will protect the tree from humans and other animals. I spent hours with a trio of them feeding them wood lice and fruit and they gave this to me in return."

"You have the strangest luck, kitten," Kurapika mused as he hefted the branch to test its weight. "This should do quite nicely for your bokken; it is well balanced and almost completely straight with no visible knots. After you finish eating, don't think I didn't notice you barely touched your sandwich, we can dig up a few smaller pine boughs for you to practice carving on once your hand has healed."

Two hours later, Azalea was seated beside the fire pit next to Kurapika with a large pile of one foot long branches of varying diameters from several different types of trees as she listened to the blond explaining how to go about selecting an appropriate piece of wood to carve a bokken from (since she won't always find a convenient tree guardian to gift her with the perfect branch). The various branches they'd collected after the meal were used as examples of good and bad selections as Kurapika pointed out the flaws in each one.

Leorio dragged her away to check on her hand an hour later. That involved another half hour torture session as the teen cleaned out the burn a second time and removed a few sections of dead skin that he'd missed the first time before he loosely rebandaged it once more. The only good thing about the entire process was the news that her hand was healing even if it still had a long way to go. Azalea would have preferred to use magical burn paste on the burn to speed up the healing but her Home Healer's Kit hadn't had any in it.

Azalea was a bit depressed after that; her hand a vivid reminder of what she'd lost.

Kurapika pulled her out of her funk by hauling her off to the bedroom to spend an hour teaching her the proper way to stretch out her muscles in order to increase her flexibility (one of the few exercises that wouldn't tax her hand or her less than perfectly healthy body). The remainder of the evening was then spent relaxing and reading out in the living room; Azalea laying with her head pillowed on Kurapika's lap as they shared the couch. She eventually drifted off to sleep with the fingers of Kurapika's left hand gently playing with the strands of her hair.

When she opened her eyes the next morning, Azalea experienced a moment of disorientation as she unexpectedly found herself tucked into the bed when she distinctly recalled falling asleep on the couch. She was just sitting up when the bedroom door opened and Kurapika walked into the room. Azalea blushed and had to fight the urge to hide under the covers the moment her gaze was caught up in a pair of intense chocolate eyes; the witch felt naked despite the fact that she was still wearing the clothes she'd fallen asleep in.

"Good morning, kitten; I was just coming to wake you up," Kurapika greeted as he shamelessly walked right up to the bed and smiled down at her. "Breakfast is already on the table and you should stretch out before eating."

"Morning, Kurapika," Azalea returned as she self-consciously slipped out from under the covers.

She then excused herself to use the bathroom to relieve her bladder and promptly discovered that she'd started her period sometime during the night. Cursing her body's rotten timing for reminding her of the fact that, yes, she was a girl despite her pretending she wasn't; at least it partially explained why she'd been so emotional and moody over the past few days. After soundly cursing Mother Nature for her woman's curse, Azalea stuck her head out the door to see if the coast was clear so she could get her book bag only to discover that Kurapika was lounging on her bed.

Embarrassed as all hell and currently unable to use her magic to summon her bag to her (due to her injured right hand), Azalea shyly requested, "Kura, could you please toss me my bag?"

The seventeen year old willingly complied, though he actually delivered the bag into her hand and stole a kiss before he let her have it. She would have felt far more flattered if not for the fact that she felt icky because she was on her period and because she still had morning breath since she'd not yet brushed her teeth. Kurapika chuckling over how flustered she was at the moment didn't help and she ended up snapping the door shut in his face after she growled at him. A quick shower, a fresh change of clothes (complete with menstrual pad), and a swig of Maiden's Malady Mixture (a potion designed to ease the discomfort associated with a woman's menstrual cycle) helped her feel more like herself.

She exited the bathroom half an hour later (after brushing her teeth) and tossed her dirty clothes into the hamper after collecting the clean ones that had been washed the night before. She then striped the sheets from the bed while trying to prevent Kurapika, who had not left the room, from seeing the bloodstains from where the blood had soaked through her pants when he insisted on helping her. Azalea was starting to think that her face was going to permanently turn red due to all the blushing she kept doing in the blond's presence. Kurapika's soft laughter and seemingly knowing smiles didn't help her one bit, either.

After remaking the bed, Kurapika watched her stretch out; the blond occasionally correcting her position when she made a mistake or accidentally skipped a stretch. Once she was finished, Kurapika shooed her out to the kitchen for breakfast where the other three were just finishing their meal.

"Did everyone get their six points?" Azalea asked as she dropped down into the nearest chair and did her best to ignore the knowing smirk that was once again plastered on Leorio's face; making a mental note to add his name to her list of people to prank.

"Of course," Killua replied as he patted his shirt.

"Yes," Gon quietly stated as the normally boisterous twelve year old glared at his plate.

Azalea glanced sharply at the kid and finally noticed the rather spectacular bruise that marred his right cheek. She scowled both over the bruise and the fact that she hadn't noticed it sooner but said nothing since it was obvious that the kid was upset about whatever it was that had happened. Part of that was because Azalea knew how much she hated it when others pestered her for information when she was in one of those moods and she knew that Gon would tell them what was wrong when he was ready or he'd get over it on his own.

"I've got mine as well," Kurapika added to draw the attention away from the pre-teen. "Leorio's target was Ponzu (the woman from the cave) and Gon took her badge before we left so that means Leorio has his points now too. What about you, did you find your target?"

"Yeah, I switched his badge out on the afternoon of the fourth day. I'd picked up four extras as well. I'd hoped to run into Tonpa at some point but I didn't go out of my way to look for him because I hadn't forgotten that he was your target."

"Don't worry, kitten, I made certain I expressed your displeasure over his very existence to him for you," Kurapika drawled with a smirk as he glanced sideways at Azalea. "I suspect that this year will be his final attempt at taking the Hunter's Exam. He was no spring chicken after all."

"I wish I could have seen that," Azalea replied with a smirk of her own.

"Hey, James, what should we do about the fake badges that we gave out?" Gon asked suddenly. "What will happen if a bunch of people show up claiming to have taken the same badges?"

"That's easy; I just have to cancel the spells once I'm…" Azalea began only to blanch when her mind caught up with her mouth as she stared down at her injured hand. "Shit."

"What's wrong?" Killua asked in confusion while the other three glanced at Azalea's hand with concern.

"James's wand burned up on him," Gon answered when Azalea bowed her head and curled her hands into fists; the witch ignoring the pain in her right hand as she cursed the loss of her wand again.

"Can you cancel the spells wandlessly?" Kurapika asked.

"Normally, yes," Azalea replied as she relaxed just a touch and unclenched her right hand. "The problem is that I'm right handed and attempting to use any magic right now would make my hand worse because of the magical burns I received when the wand caught fire. I don't know if I would have enough control to use my left hand or not."

"We should still have enough fake badges between the five of us that you can figure that out right now," Kurapika stated as he pushed to his feet. "It shouldn't take us more than an hour to pack up the camp and that will leave us six hours before we're due to return to the starting point; that leaves you two hours to practice."

"It won't even take that long to break down the camp; all I have to do is collect my books and clothes before I pull the tent down and dismantle the wards."

"Let's get started then."

* * *

**AN: **_Okay, before someone rants and raves that Kurapika should have seen through Azalea's disguise during the bathroom scene, there are several reasons why he didn't. One, he never actually got a clear view of her bound chest and the times he could have, his attention was focused on other things. Two, his mind was far more wrapped up in the discussion they were having and his offer and not on her body. And three, I see Azalea's magic unconsciously seeking to help her continue the ruse; sort of like accidental magic. _

_There's also the fact that when I tried to write the unveiling at this point, it felt far too contrived and forced and it didn't flow right. Hence the reason why I turfed that bit and rewrote it as it is now. We'll see Kurapika's thoughts on how he feels once he realizes how many clues he overlooked but that is still a few chapters away. You also have to remember, that at this point in the story, Kurapika is still far more concerned with the Spider and avenging his clan than he is on unraveling the secrets that surround Azalea. In a way, his attraction to Azalea is affecting his abilities because he's fighting against what he wants and what he believes he has to do._

_And finally, I should point out that Kurapika saw what he expected to see; he believes Azalea to be a boy and so therefore he saw a boy. Much like the muggles in Britain ignored the way things jumped out of the path of the Knight Bus as it barreled along under Ernie's crazed driving. ~ Jenn  
_

**10-30-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	15. Trial x and x Error

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Trial x and x Error

After collecting her scattered belongings and packing up the tent, Azalea sat down in the center of the camp with a pile of fake badges piled up in front of her and prepared to make an attempt to remaster the Cancellation Spell in two hours. She started out small; simply pulling her magic from her core. The flood of magic that rushed forward once again caught Azalea off guard and she bit off a curse as she was forced to let go of the magic immediately as it set her right hand on fire. The witch scowled as she tried to figure out why her magic felt so out of control after all the work she'd put into gaining that control in the first place.

Her next two tries netted her the same exact results and she ended up swearing up a storm for a good fifteen minutes before she dug out her book on wandless magic to find out what she had suddenly started doing wrong. When that didn't help her, she closed her eyes and meditated as she reached down inside of herself to tentatively feel out her core in an effort to find out what had changed. Right away she noticed that her core looked and felt far different than it had the first time she'd sought it out when she was first learning to call up her magic wandlessly.

The first time she had seen her core, it had been surrounded by a fine mesh net (similar to a nylon stocking) that had held the majority of her magic in place while only allowing a small trickle of magic out between the spaces in the netting; spaces that had gradually doubled in size over the past six months as she used more and more wandless magic. Now, all that remained of that netting was a few shredded sections that clung to the edges of her core. Believing that the net had been part of her core and therefore necessary; Azalea reached out to take hold of the remains in order to repair the net.

The moment her hand touched the broken strands of the net, she knew that the net wasn't part of her core and that it never should have been there in the first place (the witch never before had cause to actually touch the net to reach her magic previously).

Azalea had become intimately aware of what her magic felt and tasted like during the process of learning how to cast wandlessly and the magic that made up the broken strands of the net tasted nothing like her magic. Someone had bound her core. Angry, Azalea methodically stripped every last remaining thread from her core and shredded them completely to prevent them from taking hold of her core once more. She then spent several minutes attempting to tame the wild storm that her magic had become the moment it had been freed of its bindings; the natural flow of her magic having been disrupted by the presence of the bindings and further corrupted by the haphazard release of the binds.

Once her magic had settled down a touch, Azalea unexpectedly came face to face with the two animals that represented her inner nature (animals that had been bound alongside of her core). She snorted in amusement the moment she saw the small mostly white calico cat covered in messy patches of rusty red and pitch black including one particularly abstract patch of black that covered the top of its head, one ear and half its face; the animal that represented her inner child due to her independence, playful nature, and boundless curiosity. The animal that represented her soul, on the other hand, was a half grown Siberian tiger with thick black and rusted red stripes cutting through pale white; a more powerful avatar that had a similar nature to that of her inner child with a wide territorial streak and a temper (when provoked).

Kurapika would undoubtedly have a field day if Azalea ever learned to transform into either of her alternate forms and learned his nickname was far truer than he might have imagined.

After studying her two forms for a long minute, Azalea reached out to pet both cats in order to familiarize herself with her inner natures before she left her meditative state. She then opened her eyes and hissed out an angry, "When I find the bloody buggering bugbear that bound my core I'm going to string him up by his bloody balls and beat him black and blue with his own arms."

"Can you undue whatever it was that was done?" Kurapika inquired with a slight frown from where he was sitting just a few feet away from the witch.

"I already did; that's the problem. I thought the Snake Charmer had left some kind of hidden trap that destroyed my wand but after discovering the shattered bindings on my core I believe that my wand had been unable to cope with the flood of unrestrained magic that I used to remove the spells from all of the snakes and as a result, it caught fire. The magic from the bindings felt fairly old, so I'm guessing that they had been in place since before I started Hogwarts and had therefore began weakening steadily once I started training my magic after I turned eleven. I probably further weakened them when I started learning how to cast wandlessly since I continuously pulled more and more magic from my core with each spell I cast."

"What does that mean for you?" Leorio asked curiously.

"It basically means I have no control right now because my magic is in complete disarray due to the bindings hindering the natural flow of my magic for so long. The effect could easily be compared to a river overflowing during a violent storm and subsequently destroying everything in its path until the storm calms and the flood waters recede."

"What will you do about the fake badges?" Killua asked as he toed the pile of badges with his left foot.

"This," Azalea declared as she stood up, forced her magic into her left hand, and silently cast the Cancellation Spell. A small pulse of magic exploded out from her hand and every active spell caught within the path of the pulse for a good mile ceased to function the moment the wave of magic washed over it (her magical belongings only escaping the purge due them being behind Azalea at the time). "Once we reach the starting point and I'm certain most everyone is there; I'll cast it again. Thankfully, that particular spell doesn't require a whole lot of control to work or I'd not be able to do a thing about the rest of the fakes."

"How long do you think it will take you to regain control?" Kurapika asked as the five of them prepared to head out now that there was no longer a reason to delay their return.

"Months," Azalea replied as she kicked the ruined ward stone she'd just been about to pick up (it had been in the direct path of her overpowered spell). "Once the burns on my hand heal, it will be easier for me to practice since I won't have to worry about my magic making them worse. In the mean time, I'll have to be careful not to use my magic unless I absolutely have to because even a harmless Stinging Hex could do considerable damage when overpowered."

Nothing further was said as the five of them headed for the starting point at a swift jog. At the end of their first hour of travel, Azalea cast a wandless Homenum Revelio (another spell that didn't exactly require an excessive amount of control) and cursed a bit when the feed back of the spell gave her an immediate headache due to the range the overpowered spell had covered. There was a reason, after all, why it was recommended for a person to limit the amount of ground that spell covered to somewhere between a twenty and fifty foot radius; the larger the area scanned, the more feedback the spell shoved into your head.

She didn't bother attempting to use that spell again; the group relying instead on Gon's superhuman sense of smell and Killua's heightened senses to detect anyone attempting to sneak up on them.

They made it to the starting point with a half an hour to spare and Azalea was practically dead on her feet as she'd had trouble keeping up with the others because she was nowhere as physically fit as they were and because she'd not quite recovered from her stunt in the Snake Charmer's cave. She had at one point considered taking her broom out of her bag but decided against it after glancing at Kurapika; the witch vividly recalled what the blond had said about there being blood, sweat, and tears involved in her training.

If she couldn't handle a bit of running, then how could she expect to handle whatever Kurapika threw her way? And so Azalea had gamely plowed onwards even when it felt like her legs were going to seize up and fall off and her lungs felt as if they'd burst.

"How did you make it through the First Phase?" Leorio demanded after he noted Azalea's red face, sweat soaked clothes, and ragged gasping breathing.

"I flew."

"Idiot, why didn't you fly this time?" Kurapika chastised as he slapped Azalea upside the back of the head.

"You promised me blood, sweat, and tears," Azalea rasped as she glanced up at the blond.

"Idiot," Kurapika repeated with a huff. "I told you I wasn't going to start your physical conditioning until after your hand healed and after you'd had time to adjust to your new diet. You could do yourself serious damage pushing yourself stupidly like that."

"What are the two of you talking about?" Gon asked curiously as he glanced between the two of them.

"Kurapika agreed to train me."

"New rule, kitten; you aren't allowed to do anything physically taxing unless I give you permission."

"Yes, mother," Azalea cheekily retorted; earning herself another slap upside the head.

"Cheeky brat," Kurapika huffed before he pushed Azalea backwards so that she fell on her butt. "Stretch; or your muscles will seize up later."

Azalea snickered as she complied with the order and by the time she finished (needing only a few corrections from the blond this time) she was no longer winded and her legs had stopped trembling. She was then handed one of the bottled waters that Kurapika had been carrying around all week and told to drink at least a quarter of it in small sips; an order that she gladly obeyed. Once she finished the water, she climbed back up to her feet, pulled her father's invisibility cloak out of her bag, and disappeared underneath it before she made her way to the starting point to cast the Cancellation Spell on the people that had been gathering there for the last two hours.

The others followed behind her, Gon following the faint scent of Azalea's blood that hadn't completely been masked by the cloak. Azalea canceled the spells on her fake badges just before the woman that had explained the rules of the Fourth Phase to them asked them to present their collected badges to prove they had the necessary points to pass. The witch then crouched down behind Leorio and Kurapika to remove her cloak so that no one else would see her appear from out of nowhere. It was decidedly amusing to watch eight of the other applicants frantically search their clothes for the missing copies of their badges or stare stupidly at the rocks they found in place of their actual badges.

Unfortunately, Hisoka was not one of those that came up short any points; though it was obvious that Gon had taken the man's badge.

All told, there were ten applicants that had passed the Fourth Phase; numbers forty-four, fifty-three, ninety-nine, one-ninety-one, two-ninety-four, three-oh-one, three-fifty-four, three-fifty-five, three-fifty-six, and three-fifty-seven. Seven of which were all rookie applicants. Those eight that had not passed, that had fully expected to pass, were more than a little pissed and they were exceedingly vocal about being made to look like fools. A year ago, Azalea might have felt a twinge of remorse for being responsible for crushing their hopes of passing the exam. A year ago, she'd still believed in playing fairly and following the rules.

Now…? Now, she knew that if she wanted to win, then she'd have to take any and every advantage that she could.

Those that had passed the task were taken back to Trick Tower Island where the airship that had carried them to the island ten days earlier was waiting for them while the rest of the applicants were escorted to another airship that would deliver them back to Dolle Harbor. As the other nine applicants boarded the blimp, Azalea stopped and searched the sky for any sign of Hedwig as she gave out a long, shrill whistle. She desperately whistled twice more when there'd been no response to her first whistle and she probably would have been left behind if not for Kurapika coming back out to drag her onto the airship.

Between Hedwig's continued absence and the destruction of her wand, Azalea's mood was at an all time low and if not for Kurapika sticking to her side like glue, Azalea probably would have disappeared to sulk. As it was, the blond hauled the smaller teen off to the Infirmary to have her hand looked at (after demanding directions from Satotz, who'd greeted them all as they boarded the airship). Dr. Mackle had been more than a little upset with Azalea over the wretched state of her hand; especially after he'd learned she'd been holding a burning stick in her hand (the exact nature of the stick and the reason it had caught fire left out intentionally).

The first thing the doctor had done was give Azalea a local anesthetic numb the hand before he spent an hour cleaning up the edges of the burn to remove the small bits of dead skin that Leorio had missed. Once those had been removed, Azalea's hand was numbed a second time and the injury washed with a powerful antiseptic to prevent an infection from setting in before being slathered with a specialized burn cream and deftly wrapped up in clean bandages.

The doctor had then slapped the tube of burn cream into Azalea's left hand along with several unopened rolls of gauze and an unopened box of single dose Tylenol samples and told her to apply the cream twice daily for five days. Azalea got up to leave at that point only for Kurapika to shove her back on the bed as he turned around and browbeat the doctor into giving Azalea a complete physical. Azalea tried to protest but the doctor looked far too pleased about the demand and Kurapika wasn't budging; the blond pointedly reminding Azalea that he needed to know the state of Azalea's current physical health in order to put together an appropriate training program. That announcement led to Kurapika being added to Azalea's file as the primary contact in the event of an emergency.

She was thankful that the doctor had at least made Kurapika wait outside the infirmary while he conducted exam.

By the time they left the Infirmary some four and a half hours after boarding the airship, Azalea was in a right foul mood and giving Kurapika the silent treatment after the teen had insisted upon Azalea being subjected to the humiliating and highly invasive physical that the doctor had put her through (the witch not aware that half of the tests that she'd been given weren't actually part of a standard physical). The fact that Kurapika found the entire thing amusing wasn't helping; the blond teasingly telling her that she was acting like a miffed cat. Azalea had growled at him and stalked away; making the seventeen year old laugh harder.

Azalea's temper tantrum was cut short by the ship wide announcement that all of ten of the applicants that had passed the Fourth Phase were required to sit through a one on one interview with Chairman Netero in numerical order. She let out a soft whine as she tried to decide whether she should be worried or annoyed and soon settled on panicked as she recalled just how freely she'd used her magic during the Chairman's 'game' and during the Third Phase of the exam. Kurapika, once he noticed her growing distress, dragged her to the nearest empty dorm and locked the door before taking Azalea's mind off the coming interview by kissing her senseless (and once again coming close to discovering her true gender) until he was called to the Chairman's office for his interview (Azalea's number the highest of those left which meant that she would be the last applicant to be interviewed).

When Azalea's turn finally came, she woodenly made her way through the halls to Netero's office feeling like a prisoner walking to her execution. She hesitated outside of the man's office for a brief moment before knocking on the door to announce her presence. Netero called for her to enter almost as soon as her knuckles connected with the door and Azalea hesitated again before she opened the door and entered the room. Azalea glanced around the office once, taking in the tasteful traditional Japanese theme that the room had been decorated with, before settling her eyes on the old man seated behind a low table just off to her right.

"Ah, right on time; please have a seat so we may begin."

Azalea studied Netero for a long minute before she did as instructed; kneeling down on the small mat that sat on the opposite side of the table from the old man. She felt more than a little uncomfortable with the intense scrutiny that the man was giving her in return and Azalea felt decidedly naked without her hat; the fedora had been left behind in the underground cavern with the dead snake charmer after being forgotten in the wake of the destruction of her wand.

"I was informed that you spent several hours in the Infirmary upon boarding; I trust that any injuries you received were minor enough that they will not prevent you from participating in the Final Phase?"

"I'm fine."

"That is good to hear," Netero murmured as he picked up a rather thick file from the floor that he flipped through for a moment before he opened a pot of ink and palmed a fine tipped Japanese calligraphy brush. The man then returned his gaze to Azalea as he asked, "Why do you want to become a Hunter?"

"I needed to find someone to train me," Azalea quietly replied after a short internal debate on whether or not it would be wise to give the man an evasive answer.

"Training? What kind of training could the Hunter's Association possibly provide for a young witch who should, by rights, be sequestered within a rather drafty Scottish castle at this moment in time, young lady?"

A lance of pure terror shot through Azalea as she bolted to her feet and danced back away from the man the moment the man admitted to knowing that Azalea was both magical and female (though she shouldn't have been surprised that he'd learned her true gender after she'd ended up in the Infirmary the first time). She dug into her pocket for her wand only to let out a whine that was half irritation and half fear as she belatedly remembered that she no longer had a wand. Her next course of action was to flee the room and she dashed to the door only to find that it had somehow been locked after she'd entered the room.

"Calm yourself, young lady; I mean you no harm."

"Bugger that! Let me out of here," Azalea barked back over her shoulder without looking as she rattled the door again.

"Sit down, Miss Potter; you will not be leaving this room until we are finished with our discussion," Netero ordered in a voice that demanded instant compliance.

Azalea slowly let go of the door handle and turned around to face Netero as the blood drained from her face over the realization that the man not only knew that she was a witch but that he knew exactly who Azalea was. She then slumped back against the door and covered her face with her hands as she silently cursed herself for a fool; she should have known better than to flaunt her magic the way she had during the exam. She also should have known that it was fruitless to hide who she was when her picture had been plastered across newspapers from all over the world thanks her status as the Girl-Who-Lived and her entry into the Tri-Wizard Tournament two years earlier.

"Sit down," Netero repeated in a much softer tone.

Azalea wearily dropped her hands and pushed away from the door, defeat evident in every line of her posture as she slowly crossed the room, sank back onto the mat, and bowed her head. She swallowed around the lump of fear in her throat as she hoarsely asked, "How… how do you know my last name?"

"You mean aside from the fact that you signed all of your medical documents with your full name?" Netero dryly asked in return. "Simple; I recognized your eyes and your scar."

Azalea palmed her face over the fact that she'd signed her full name to all of the forms that Dr. Mackle had had her fill out and sign that first time she'd woken up in the Infirmary. She couldn't believe she'd been that stupid; though in her defense, she'd never been formally trained in the art of subterfuge and only ever used an alias once before (and that hadn't involved signing her name to anything). She'd also still been reeling from everything that had happened after her first interview with Netero and the vision that Voldemort had sent her about Remus's death.

"Will I be disqualified now?" Azalea asked quietly once she got over the revelation of her own stupidity. "Am I going to be arrested or something for being here?"

"Whether or not you are disqualified will depend upon how you answer my questions and whether or not you pass the Final Phase. As to your other question… why would you think you'd be arrested?"

"I was told that Hunters hunted wizards."

"Well, there is some truth in that; we have hunted dark wizards and witches to keep the peace in the past. And some Hunters are sent after other magicals for reasons known only to their clients; not all Hunters are saints after all and they aren't above performing assassinations for the right price."

"Oh."

"Now, shall we continue, young lady? We were discussing your desire to seek training and the reasons why you weren't attending Hogwarts for said training."

"That's just it; I wasn't getting the training I need at school and I don't want to die, sir."

"I'm not following your logic, young lady. Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me what led you to making the decision to enter the Hunter Exam?"

"The beginning…? Well, I don't suppose it counts as breaking the Statue of Secrecy if you already know about magic and I'd already done that when I'd used my magic in front of the others so I guess… in for a penny, in for a pound as they say. There's a lot I don't know or don't understand but I suppose you could say it starts with a wizard by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle who at some point started calling himself Lord Voldemort. He killed my parents on Halloween night in nineteen-eighty-one…"

For the next three hours, Azalea talked herself hoarse as she spoke of what she knew of Voldemort, skimmed over her years of growing up with the Dursleys, talked about learning the truth about her heritage, and spoke of the things she'd seen and experienced during her five years at Hogwarts. The only thing she did not speak of was the exact wording of the prophecy; her need to protect that information far too ingrained in her magic and her soul.

It was rather therapeutic to pour out her entire story without holding anything back; something she'd never done before, though she had shared bits and pieces with her life with her friends back home and more recently with Kurapika. She wasn't quite certain why she was opening up to the old man sitting across from her but it somehow felt right to do so (the young witch unaware that she was being subtly manipulated by the Nen of a hidden Hunter).

"…and after Voldemort fled, Dumbledore sent me back to his office. It was then that he told me about the prophecy and explained his reasons for doing the things he'd done. I was so frightened, confused, and angry. I hated myself for being stupid and getting everyone hurt again, I hated Dumbledore for being human enough to make mistakes, I hated Snape for being the petty bastard he is, I hated Bellatrix for killing my godfather, and I hated Sirius for not staying safe."

"It wasn't until I heard my cousin arguing with my uncle over entering the Hunter's Exam that I remembered how much I'd wanted to be a Hunter before I learned about the wizarding world. After thinking about it over the rest of the drive home, I came to the decision that if the wizards weren't going to train me, then I was going to find someone else to train me. I packed what I thought I needed, manipulated my uncle into giving me Dahlia's boarding pass by appealing to his desire to be rid of me, and ran."

"I made a trip to the bank, learned my godfather named me his heir, made out a will, took out some money, and bought some supplies. I visited the Weasley twins and confessed my intentions of taking the Exam and they gave me a few suggestions, some supplies, and told me to contact them if I needed anything. I boarded the ship the next day and now here I am," Azalea finished tiredly; her throat dry and scratchy from talking for so long.

"Here, drink this; it will sooth your throat," Netero instructed as he poured Azalea a cup of green tea and stirred in a generous spoonful of honey to it before passing it to the teen. "I must say, that was a most impressive tale and if I was not already aware of bits and pieces of your story, then I would have thought you were telling me tall tales. I thank you for being honest with me, young lady. There were several things you mentioned that I would like to discuss in more depth with you but that can wait until after the Final Phase of the Exam when we see whether or not you earn your license."

"Okay," Azalea replied after a moment.

"In the mean time, I have two final questions for you; first, can you tell me which of your fellow applicants you have kept an eye on since the start of the exam?"

"All of them; I was terrified of being unmasked as a girl and finding myself at the mercy of someone stronger than me or ousted as a magical and being disqualified or worse because of it. I paid closer attention to those that were bullies though and those that I sensed were dangerous out of necessity; like Hisoka. I also made it a point to help the four applicants that somehow ended up as my near constant companions since I stepped off the ship in Dolle Harbor."

"Interesting and not really all that surprising. Final question; which of the remaining applicants would you least want to fight?"

Azalea let out a choked laugh that was full of pain as her thoughts immediately went to her lack of a wand, her current lack of control, and her injured right hand. After a moment she pulled her emotions back under control as she rasped out, "I can't fight any of them and wouldn't want to in the first place. If forced to fight anyway, then I wouldn't want to face Hisoka or any of my companions; most especially Kurapika because I wouldn't want to stand in the way of his passing the exam since I don't think he'd be willing to fight me either."

"Why do you say you can't fight? Did you not say your injuries were minor?"

"My wand caught fire in my hand two days ago, sir, and I no longer have any control over my wandless casting because I just shredded the bindings that someone had placed on my core long before I started Hogwarts. I have no other skills to speak of though but despite knowing I am at a disadvantage, I can't and won't quit."

"I see. I suppose that is something else we will need to address once the Exam is over. Do you have any questions that you wish to ask of me before you are dismissed?"

"Just one, sir," Azalea replied as she looked up to meet Netero's gaze for the first time since that man had made it known that he knew exactly who she was. "Earlier you said you'd recognized my eyes and for the last five years everyone has always told me that I have my mother's eyes… So, can you please tell me when and how you met my mother?"

"I'm sorry, young lady, but I'm afraid that I never met your mother," Netero countered as he set his brush down and leaned back to study Azalea for a moment. "I was, however, good friends with a wizard by the name of Gregory Evans right up until he was killed during the Grindelwald mess back in forty-three. His eyes were the exact same shade of green as yours and Greg once told me that I would only ever see eyes like his on those magicals that had Evans blood running through their veins. I knew you were his great-granddaughter the moment I saw your eyes."

"My great-grandfather…?" Azalea parroted back as her mouth went dry. "Can you…? Will you please…? What was he like?"

"He was one of the best damned Hunters I ever had the privilege of training and fighting alongside," Netero replied with a small, fond smile. "Now, shoo, child. I have work to do."

Azalea nodded and stood up on legs that had gone numb from sitting in one position for so long. She took a couple of staggering steps towards the door before she paused and glanced back at Netero. She then cleared her throat to get the man's attention and waited for him to glance up before she solemnly stated, "Thank you, sir; for everything."

The witch then slipped out the door and wandered away from the office as her thoughts churned endlessly with the knowledge that not only had her mother not been a true muggleborn but that her great-grandfather had been a Magical Hunter. The dazed sixteen year old had no idea how long she'd been drifting aimlessly through the deserted halls of the airship when she had the misfortune of crossing paths Hisoka.

One minute, she was walking down an empty hallway and the next she was faced with a dead end she swore hadn't been there a minute earlier. She simply turned around to retrace her footsteps only to find herself trapped in a six foot by six foot stretch of hallway (that was completely void of all security cameras) with a smug Hisoka watching her with hooded amber eyes from where he was leaning against the wall.

"I am impressed, little mouse; I'd been so certain that you'd been caught in a mousetrap when I heard you scream so deliciously a few days ago only to find you'd slipped free before I could save you. Then I found your little burrow where Bourbon the Snake Charmer had died and I had been impressed all over again to discover that my little mouse could outwit the serpent. I am looking forward to seeing how you impress me next. In the mean time, I noticed you dropped something after you fled your burrow."

Azalea stood poleaxed as Hisoka produced her missing hat from out of thin air before he pushed away from the wall and strode towards where Azalea was standing frozen. Azalea took several shaky steps backwards as the man drew closer only to find herself hitting the wall. Hisoka only smiled wider at the obvious fear Azalea was displaying as he moved right up into Azalea's personal space and leaned forward to scent Azalea's hair. He then reached out to run a finger down the side of Azalea's face to Azalea's neck where he tapped one of the fading love bites that Kurapika had left near the base of her neck.

"Oh my, someone's been a naughty little mouse," Hisoka whispered as he gazed down at Azalea with lust filled eyes. "I will allow it, for now, but don't get too attached to your little playmate because you belong to me. One way, or another, when the time is right and you've grown just a little more; you will be mine. In the mean time, I'll do you the favor of returning your hat to you. There's no need to thank me, my little mouse; I'll collect the favor you owe me another time."

The man then pressed a kiss to the corner of Azalea's mouth before he set the hat on Azalea's head and walked away as the walls blocking the hallway vanished. The moment the redhead was gone, Azalea yanked the hat from her head and threw it down the hall as her knees gave out from under her and she slid down the wall. She spent the next ten minutes scrubbing her face raw to get rid of the feeling of Hisoka's lips on her skin while she stared at the hat as if expecting it to rear up like a viper and strike her any second.

Azalea then drew her legs up against her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and buried her face against her knees as she began trembling with anger and fear. She was angry with herself for completely losing track of her surroundings after her meeting with Chairman Netero and for allowing Hisoka to catch her off guard. At the same time, she was terrified of what Hisoka had been implying with his parting words. She was also more than a little disgusted with herself for freezing in fear and for making no attempt to avoid that wretched kiss that Hisoka had given her. Her stomach churned just thinking about the utter wrongness of that kiss.

Gon and Kurapika found her still sitting there an hour later as she sat with one cheek resting on her knee and stared at her hat without seeing it; Gon had followed the scent of the burn cream that had been smeared on Azalea's right hand and her blood (from her monthly flow, not that Gon knew that). Gon stopped to stare at the hat in confusion while Kurapika walked up to kneel in front of the witch; the blond unknowingly blocking the hat from Azalea's line of sight and drawing her attention.

"Did something happen, James? We've been looking for you for hours."

"I talked to Chairman Netero for hours," Azalea replied slowly once her brain managed to fully process the question she had been asked. "He wouldn't let me leave until I answered all of his questions. I think I told him more than I wanted to but once I started I couldn't stop. I wish he'd made me stay and talk longer. Maybe then the world wouldn't have gone mad."

"What are you talking about, James?" Kurapika demanded with a frown at the same time as Gon asked, "Hey, James, how did your hat get here?"

"Hisoka returned it to me."

"Did he attack you?" Kurapika asked urgently while Gon scowled fiercely and clenched his fists.

"I wish he had… it certainly would have been far more preferable to what he did."

"What did he…?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Azalea stated as she cut off Kurapika's question.

"Okay, it can wait until you're ready," Kurapika replied after he studied Azalea for a long minute. "In the mean time, you missed supper and you need to eat something."

Azalea allowed Kurapika to pull her up onto her feet and lead her back to the dorm room they'd used earlier. Gon made to grab Azalea's hat for her but the witch told the kid to leave it; she refused to accept the debt that the hat represented and it would be a cold day in hell before she allowed herself to owe Hisoka any favors. As the three of them left the hallway, a pair of amber eyes glittered darkly with amusement in the dim light of the corridor before a manicured hand reached down and collected the abandoned hat.

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**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	16. Persistence x and x Penalties

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Sixteen: Persistence x and x Penalties

It took three and a half days for them to reach their final destination; a rather luxurious hotel that was owned by the Hunter Examination Committee. During the course of their flight, Azalea spent most of her time brooding and while she made no attempt to distance herself from her companions; she also made no attempt to interact with them. She also shied away from Kurapika's advances as the memory of her encounter with Hisoka haunted her; she feared the clown costumed psychopath would harm the seventeen year old the moment Hisoka discovered that Kurapika was the one to have left the love bites on her neck.

The only reason Kurapika didn't push Azalea or grow angry with her was because the blond had quickly realized that Azalea's sudden skittishness had everything to do with her encounter with Hisoka (despite Azalea not saying a word to him). The older teen also hadn't missed the hungry looks that Hisoka would cast in Azalea's direction any time the two of them were in the same room; a look that reminded Kurapika of a cat hunting a mouse.

In an odd turn of events, Azalea was the first one to exit the airship the moment they touched down; the witch desperate to get away from Hisoka and to search for her absent familiar. When two sharp whistles didn't bring the owl down out of the sky, Azalea truly began to fear that something had happened to her beloved companion. She therefore dragged her heels when all of the applicants were ushered through the door of a large open ballroom where the Final Phase of the Exam would be held.

At the very last second, just before she stepped through the door, Azalea was bombarded from behind by an over exhausted Hedwig carrying a rather large box in her beak. The witch gave out a cry that was half joy and half shock as she took in her filthy and ragged feathers; pleased that her familiar was both alive and back with her but worried that she'd been seriously hurt. She completely ignored everyone else as she rushed into the room with her owl cradled in her arms and skidded to a stop just inches away from Netero.

"Please, sir; is there a vet or someone that can take a look at Hedwig? I'm worried she's been hurt again."

Netero glanced down at the practically unconscious owl in the witch's arms before he signaled for one the uniformed men standing around the edge of the room to approach. "Masta, please see to it that this young man's companion receives the much needed care that she requires. James, you can trust Masta to deliver your friend into the hands of someone who can help her; please go ahead and relieve your owl of her burden and let him take her."

"Thank you," Azalea breathed in relief as she coaxed Hedwig into releasing her hold on the twine that was secured to the package. "You can let go, beautiful; you did a good job and now it's time for you to get some rest. I'll come see you as soon as I'm finished here and I'll bring you plenty of bacon. Good girl, Hedwig; you're bloody brilliant and I bet you're still the fastest and bravest owl in the entire world."

Hedwig gave a snuffling bark as she weakly nibbled at her fingers and Azalea leaned down to kiss her beak before she gently passed her to the bulky man looming beside her. As she let go of her friend and familiar, Azalea firmly instructed, "If you offer her food, she prefers frogs and wild shrews. Whatever you do, don't let her see any rats; she doesn't like rats and if you offer her one she'll take offense and the mess she'll leave behind won't be pretty."

"I'll be sure to pass the message along to the vet on duty," Masta solemnly promised even as his lips twitched upwards with amusement over her instructions.

"Thank you; I appreciate you watching over her for me."

Azalea clutched the package Hedwig had carried to her chest as she watched the man carry Hedwig out of the room; her heart still firmly lodged in her throat as she prayed her faithful friend would be alright. She actually took a single step after the pair as the urge to follow them rose up inside of her. Netero gently pulled her back, turned her around, and gave her a push towards the other applicants that were all watching her with varying degrees of amusement, concern, or contempt. Azalea took offense to those that held her in contempt over her worry about her owl and she drew herself up to her full height as she gave them a Snape worthy level three sneer, the one that says; you have no right to judge me when you are too stupid to comprehend all that I am.

She then tucked her package beneath her arm and stalked across the floor with the grace of a prowling tiger as she held her head high. Her footsteps only faltered once when she saw the licentious grin on Hisoka's face but she quickly recovered and stubbornly thrust her chin out and switched to a level six sneer, the one that said; you are unworthy of the notice I would give to something I just scraped off the bottom of my shoe. It was probably reckless of her to goad the psychotic man but Azalea had just regained a measure of confidence with the return of Hedwig.

The witch fell into line between Gon and Kurapika a moment later before she spun around to face Netero. She wiped all emotion from her face at the same time; shoving her worry about Hedwig and her fear over what the box beneath her arm contained to the far depths of her mind as she gave the chairman her complete attention.

"I would like to offer my congratulations to all ten of you on making it this far. This year's Final Phase will consist of a one-on-one tournament," Netero explained as he pulled the sheet from the presentation board that had been wheeled into place beside the man.

"So it is only possible for one person to pass?" Leorio asked with no little concern as he eyed the chart.

"No. All you need is one win to pass," Netero countered. "The winners of each match will be removed from the competition while the losers advance to the next stage until there is only one person remaining. In other words, the last man standing will be the one who does not pass this year's Exam. The rules of engagement for the matches are quite simple; weapons are allowed and the moment your opponent concedes defeat, you win. However, if you kill your opponent, you will be immediately disqualified and all of the remaining applicants will automatically pass. Are we clear?"

Several of the other applicants muttered under their breaths but Azalea ignored them as she stared at the pyramid of lines drawn on the board as a buzzing noise filled her ears. She felt more than a little sick to her stomach over the thought that she'd have to fight one or more battles in order to have a chance to win just once. A shiver ran up her spine as Netero then pulled the tape from the bottom of the board to reveal the match ups for each fight. The ten of them had been split evenly into two groups with each group facing one or more of the other members in the group before the last remaining member of each group faced each other in the final fight.

From left to right, the order went as follows; number two-ninety-four (Hanzo), three-fifty-six (Gon), fifty-three (Pokkle), ninety-nine (Killua), three-oh-one (Gittarackur), three-fifty-seven (Azalea), three-fifty-four (Leorio), one-ninety-one (Bodoro), three-fifty-five (Kurapika), and forty-four (Hisoka). The first two on either end would face each other first with the loser facing the one immediately beside them as they moved towards the center; meaning that Azalea would be the last one on her side to face whoever lost the first three fights between the other four whose names were on the same side of the chart as hers with Gittarackur in the same position in the other group.

At most, Azalea would have to fight twice; the least number of opponents and the least number of chances of passing.

Azalea wasn't thinking about that right now though, no, she was staring at the photos of the two people she'd least like to fight; Hisoka and Kurapika. The two of them would be facing off first in their group which meant that there was a high chance that she'd have to face off against one of them. She wasn't as worried about facing Leorio but that didn't mean she wanted to fight the taller teen either. Still, she wasn't really focused on her potential opponents; not when Kurapika would be facing off against Hisoka.

"Kura…?" Azalea whimpered softly as she jerked her eyes up to look at the blond standing beside her.

"I'll be fine, kitten," Kurapika assured her in a low voice.

Azalea frowned but said nothing further as Netero announced the start of the Final Phase; the first match pitting Hanzo against Gon. She dropped her eyes to the floor as she followed the other applicants off to one side so that the floor would be clear. The next three hours sent Azalea spiraling through a series of flashbacks as she watched Hanzo beat the crap out of Gon while the twelve year old stubbornly refused to quit despite how much pain he was in. She'd suspected that Gon had the heart of a Gryffindor ever since she'd first met him but watching him now just reinforced that image as his refusal to back down and quit reminded Azalea of each and every time she'd faced Voldemort or another situation where the cards were heavily stacked against her.

That didn't mean that Azalea enjoyed watch the ninja beat the tar out of the pre-teen and by the time the fight was over, and Hanzo had quit in frustration, Azalea's eyes were glittering with traces of gold as her magic thrummed in anger and concern just below the surface of her skin. Azalea wasn't the only one that had been affected by the terribly one-sided fight, Kurapika's eyes had turned scarlet more than once and Leorio had practically been breathing steam in his anger. Both of them had calmed down after Gon had kicked Hanzo in the face but they hadn't completely let go of their anger.

"Hold this for me, please, Kura," Azalea asked softly as she pushed her unopened package into the blond's hands before she stepped out of the line to quickly make her way towards the now unconscious twelve year old while Hanzo addressed the Chairman in order to make certain that Gon couldn't refuse his license once he regained consciousness.

Azalea reached the unconscious twelve year old before the medical staff that had been monitoring the fight and she didn't hesitate to kneel down and gently collect Gon from the floor. Standing back up was a bit difficult, since the pre-teen was just as tall as she was and a good deal heavier but Azalea managed as best she could as she cradled him against her chest and returned to Kurapika's side. She passed Gon to Leorio so she could dig out her Healer's Kit, a sleeping bag, and a pillow before she asked Leorio to place the boy onto the sleeping bag and help her set Gon's broken arm.

Kurapika hovered over them for a moment before he placed the package he'd been holding for Azalea on the floor next to her Healer's Kit as he headed off to fight Hisoka. Azalea paused what she was doing just long enough to tell Kurapika to be careful before she returned to feeding the unconscious pre-teen a series of healing potions that would speed up the healing process and reduce his pain. Once she'd finished doing what she could for Gon, Azalea packed her kit and her package into her book bag and calmly sat running her fingers through Gon's hair (a silent offer of comfort) while she turned her attention to the fight taking place in the center of the room.

She looked up just in time to see Kurapika get kicked in the face and Azalea clenched her teeth as she uttered a soft whine of concern. Her heart then rose up to lodge itself at the back of her throat as Hisoka glanced her way before whispering something to Kurapika. The moment Hisoka gave up after delivering whatever message it was he gave the blond, Azalea's worry increased as Kurapika stood frozen in the center of the room for a long minute before he was prompted to return to the sidelines so that the next fight could begin. This time Hanzo was facing off against Pokkle but Azalea could care less as her entire attention was on the obviously shaken blond.

Azalea's eyes darted towards Hisoka for a brief moment and found the man staring at her with a lustful, knowing smirk before the man pointedly glanced towards Gon, whose hair Azalea was still petting. Azalea furrowed her brow as she glanced between Gon and Hisoka several times until she realized that Hisoka thought that Gon was the one Azalea was involved with because of the way Azalea had rushed to the kid's aide and the way she'd been instinctively comforting the unconscious twelve year old. The sixteen year old paled before she grew angry at herself as she realized that she'd just inadvertently painted a huge target on Gon's back and she let out a hissing growl that startled those that were standing close enough to hear her.

"What's wrong, James?" Kurapika asked in concern as he was finally snapped out of his stupor by the sound of her growl.

"Hisoka is going to target Gon because of me," Azalea replied in a low voice as she deliberately began buttoning up her dragon-hide cloak; she suddenly felt unprotected. "Because of the way I reacted when Gon got hurt, he thinks… he thinks me and Gon are… that Gon was the one… Merlin, Kura, I never thought that my efforts to protect you would end up hurting Gon!"

"Hisoka was already causing trouble for Gon," Kurapika stated softly as he dropped a hand on Azalea's shoulder. "Gon had more than one run in with Hisoka over the course of the Exam; the most recent one during the Fourth Phase. We can warn Gon once he wakes up so that he'll know to be extra careful if he faces Hisoka again."

By the time they finished that hushed conversation, Hanzo had won against Pokkle and Hisoka was facing off against Bodoro. Azalea scowled as she watched the rather one sided fight until the older man conceded defeat to Hisoka and Azalea sighed as she sagged back against Kurapika in relief; Azalea wouldn't have to face Hisoka. It was then Killua's turn and the white haired youth immediately quit his match as he declared that he held no interest in fighting Pokkle. Leorio should have gone next against Bodoro but the long-legged teen requested that the older man be given more time to recover from his fight with Hisoka; in order to give the man a fighting chance.

When Leorio's request was granted, Killua returned to the floor to face Gittarackur and it was at that point that the Finals turned truly ugly. It turns out that Gittarackur was actually Illumi Zoldyck; Killua's older brother. The mind games that Illumi then proceeded to play with Killua pissed Azalea off far more than anything Hanzo had done to Gon. To hear Killua's brother belittle Killua's desire to have friends and claim that the twelve year old was nothing but a killer pissed Azalea off because it reminded her of the Dursley's telling her that she didn't deserve love or friends because she was a freak. It also reminded her of the taunts that Voldemort and his various Death Eaters had thrown Azalea's way each time they faced off.

Illumi then promised to kill Gon to free Killua from his weakness and Azalea's fury shot through the roof. Illumi took one step towards Gon and Azalea surged to her feet and let out another hissing growl that her magic magnified and the tall, long haired teen actually paused in surprise while the rest of the room eyed her with wariness or interest. Illumi caught her gaze an instant later and immediately changed tactics as he pretended to suddenly remember that killing the other participants would disqualify him so he turned away from the enraged and highly protective witch to continue his mind games with Killua until Killua surrendered.

Azalea felt a rock lodge itself in her stomach as she watched the normally rambunctious and cunning twelve year old robotically stagger back to the sidelines with dead eyes after the fight. There was something terribly familiar about the look in the pre-teen's eyes and Azalea couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Instead of watching Leorio's fight start, now that Bodoro had recovered somewhat, Azalea continued to watch the silver haired kid standing just a few feet away from her; the sense of _wrongness_ she felt growing with each ragged breath Killua took.

Just seconds after the fight started, Killua appeared to briefly struggle against himself before he took a single step forward and in that moment Azalea recognized what it was that was bothering her; Killua was displaying all the signs of someone who'd been placed under the Imperius Curse (much like Crouch Senior had in her fourth year). Needing to stop the boy before he did something he would regret; Azalea darted forward at the same time as the younger boy stopped struggling against what he was being forced to do. Her magic flared gold around her for a split second as she slid through time and space in her desperation to place herself between Killua and Bodoro as the twelve year old attempted to kill the older man.

Pain exploded in Azalea's chest as Killua's sharpened fingernails cut through the horntail-hide cloak she wore and into her chest directly over her heart as she wrapped the twelve year old in her arms before her feet hit the floor (the witch had reappeared high enough off the floor to block the blow that would have killed Bodoro. Several cries of shock and confusion rang out as blood splashed onto the floor beneath the pair but Azalea ignored them as she gazed into Killua's empty blue eyes and began desperately speaking to the younger boy.

"Fight it, Killua; damn it, don't let him win! Fight it! You are stronger than this!" Azalea urged before she coughed up a bit of blood. "Don't listen to him. Don't give up. He's wrong… they're all wrong. No one can force you to do anything against your will if you trust in yourself. Never give up. _Fight it!_"

Azalea began growing cold as she sank heavily to her knees, pulling Killua with her as she refused to release the younger boy, and her magic faltered in its struggle to keep her alive. She could feel her entire body shaking in shock as her heart struggled to keep beating around the tips of Killua's fingernails that had pierced it when the boy's hand had stabbed through her cloak and chest. She struggled against the feeling though, desperate to free the twelve year old from what she thought was the Imperius Curse. She coughed up a bit more blood as she took a couple of ragged breaths in the hopes of staving off the blackness that was creeping into her vision before she focused on the child in her arms once more.

"Push him out, Killua; you need to fight it. Don't let him win. You have friends that need you," Azalea whispered as she weakly stroked the boy's hair. "Gon needs you because he's too trusting. Leorio needs you because he's too uptight. Kurapika needs you because he doesn't laugh enough. And I need you to keep me on my toes so that I don't get too full of myself."

Killua gasped an instant later and jerked back in shock as he finally registered where he was and what he'd done. He then cried out in horror when he saw the blood trickling down Azalea's chin and flowing freely down her cloak to pool on the floor beneath them. He cried out again when he saw the blood on his hand before he grabbed hold of Azalea and clung to her while crying, "No! No, James! You can't die! It wasn't supposed to be you! No, please don't die. I never wanted to kill you! You always annoyed me but I still respected you."

Someone pulled Killua away from Azalea at that point and she felt several hands pushing her down onto her back on the floor. She tried to tell the twelve year old that everything would be alright but her mouth didn't seem to want to work properly any more. Azalea caught a glimpse of blurry faces hovering over her as someone began putting pressure over her wounded heart but she was having trouble focusing on any of them. The last thing she saw before the blackness claimed her was a pair of scarlet eyes and Azalea couldn't help but think she much preferred to see those eyes filled with angry fire than with icy fear before she knew no more.

Awareness returned sometime later and Azalea was less than pleased to find herself standing beside a familiar veiled arch in an abandoned amphitheater that looked to have been made entirely out of clouds; though she was thankful that she was no longer in any pain. Nestled beside the arch was a wriggling bundle that filled her with absolute dread as it reminded her of the demonic child thing that had been Voldemort before Pettigrew had dropped the Dark Lord into the rebirthing potion. In order to avoid thinking about the graveyard and Cedric's sightless eyes, Azalea averted her eyes from the thing beside the Veil and moved away from the arch.

She then began wondering how she ended up in the Department of Mysteries since the last thing she recalled was watching Killua's match against his brother, discovering the pre-teen had been caught in someone's Imperius Curse, and throwing herself between Killua and his intended victim. The obvious conclusion that she must have died didn't produce the blind panic that it probably should have; only a sense of freedom as the knowledge that the weight of the prophecy couldn't touch her now filled her being. She was just contemplating on whether or not she should go looking for her parents when someone addressed her.

"You shouldn't be here, little fawn," a familiar and much missed voice declared with more than a little regret.

Azalea spun around in hope and shock to stare at a much younger looking Sirius Black, "Padfoot?"

"The one and only," the Sirius look-a-like declared as he held his arms wide and gave Azalea a cocky grin she only ever remembered seeing in old photographs of her godfather from before his stay in Azkaban.

"How do I know you're not an impostor?"

"Oh, Mad-Eye would be proud of you, fawn!"

"Yeah, and then he'd yell at me for not questioning you sooner," Azalea groused as she scowled at the man that looked like her godfather. She then narrowed her eyes to ask, "What was the song you kept singing just to annoy Mrs. Weasley during the second Christmas we spent at Grimmauld Place?"

"First of all, we only ever spent one Christmas together at Grimmauld Place and secondly, I was singing God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs to annoy Kreacher, not Molly, because the blasted elf was still upset with me for putting Buckbeak in Mother's room."

Tears pricked the back of Azalea's eyes as she threw herself across the distance to hug Sirius (the man had just proven beyond a doubt that he was actually who he appeared to be) as she choked out, "I knew that and you knew that but an impostor wouldn't have known that."

"You've definitely spent way too much time around Mad-Eye," Sirius laughed as he hugged her in return. "Not that I'm not happy to see you again but what the hell are you doing here, kiddo? Why aren't you out there snogging the daylights out of a certain red-haired, blue-eyed wizard? You weren't supposed to die yet; you know that right?"

"I didn't plan on dying; I just overestimated the abilities of dragon hide to stop sharp pointy objects. I couldn't just stand there and do nothing though; he wasn't in his right mind. Someone was controlling him. And what redhead are you talking about?"

"Graphorn hide makes far better armor than dragon skin if you're going to be playing with sharp, pointy objects," Sirius absently pointed out as he let go of Azalea and held her at arms length. "And what do you mean what redhead am I talking about? Haven't you and Ron been an item since the middle of your fourth year? I'm certain that I recall that boy mentioning that the two of you were dating more than once during the summer holidays before your fifth year."

"No, I was never dating Ron; he's always been like a brother to me. And no, I wasn't dating Horatio either as he's been just as much of a brother to me as Ron," Azalea countered as she half scowled and half pouted up at her godfather. She then grew pensive as she wondered whether or not Sirius would be disgusted with her if she admitted she'd been kissing a muggle; the witch uncertain just how much of the pureblood dogma her godfather followed. There was also the fact that she wanted to do far more than just kiss Kurapika. "I'm not dating any one at all."

"What was that look for? And surely there must be some boy out there you like?"

"I'm worried about disappointing you."

"Why would I be disappointed in you?"

Azalea shrugged and scuffed her foot on the ground nervously as she muttered, "Because I've been kissing a muggle boy I just met a few weeks ago."

"Oh? Do tell? What's this boy like? Is he tall, dark, and dashing like yours truly?"

"That's it? You're not mad because he's not a wizard?"

"Why would I care whether or not he was a wizard? Hell, I dated my fair share of muggle birds between terms when I was still attending Hogwarts; drove my mother up the wall."

"Oh."

"So, tell me what he looks like already," Sirius ordered imperiously when Azalea didn't say anything more.

"I swear you're a bigger gossip than the girls in my dorm," Azalea complained before rolling her eyes when Sirius just grinned at her expectantly. "Oh fine, Padfoot; he's a year older than I am and he's at least half a foot taller. He's slender but not scrawny and he's rather athletic with blond hair and deep brown eyes. He can be playful at times and he likes to tease me but most of the time he's rather serious. He's an orphan, like me, and he is actively hunting the people that murdered his family and village."

"Just how serious are things between the two of you, little fawn?" Sirius asked after taking a moment to digest what she'd told him.

"We're not even in a relationship, Sirius; he's committed to avenging his family. He told me flat out that he was only interested in a physical relationship with me but that would be it."

"So he's just using you for sex? And you're letting him?"

"No, he's not; we've only kissed a few times. And while he did walk in on me when I was changing once, he didn't try to take advantage of me or anything. He doesn't even know I'm a girl! I've been passing myself off as a boy so I could find someone to train me because Dumbledore never bothered to train me even though he knew that the prophecy said I was the only one that could defeat Voldemort. And… and so what if I was? Would it really be so terrible if I gave myself freely to someone that makes me feel alive instead of waiting for some Death Eater to rape me? Would you hate me if I told you that I didn't want to save myself for some imaginary husband that I may never have?"

"Oh, sweetheart; I could never hate you," Sirius adamantly declared as he wrapped her in his arms once more. "Nor can I fault you for your fears and desires; I'd be a hypocrite if I did. And while I would much rather you wait to have sex until after you got married, so long as you don't rush into anything and end up regretting your choices, then that is all that matters."

"It doesn't really matter what I wanted to do anyway," Azalea quietly pointed out with a soft sniffle as she snuggled against her godfather's chest. "I'm dead now and I never got a chance to confess that I'm not actually a boy and he probably would not have wanted me once he found out I was a girl anyway. Do you know where mum and dad are? I'm really looking forward to seeing them now that I'm here."

"Ha, what's not to want regardless of whether you were born a boy or a girl; any man should feel honored to have gained even a fraction of your attention!" Sirius boldly declared as he swung her around before he set her back on her feet and sighed. "All joking aside, little fawn; you do know that you can't stay, don't you?"

"What do you mean I can't stay? I'm dead."

"Yes, you are but you don't belong here. It wasn't your time and you are still tied to the prophecy."

"But… but that's not fair! You shouldn't have died either! So, why do I have to go back when you're still stuck here!? Why didn't you come back? I still needed you!"

"It was my time to go."

"No it wasn't! You were supposed to be safe so that we could be a family! You weren't supposed to leave me!"

"We still are a family, Harriet, and even though I died, we will always be a family. And no matter how much I hated leaving you, I couldn't stay; I was already dying."

"What are you talking about?"

"I was in Azkaban for twelve years and the constant exposure to the dementors during those twelve years damaged me physically, spiritually, emotionally, and magically. I was dying a little more each day and I selfishly never wanted you to know because I didn't want you to treat me any differently. I went to the Ministry that night for two things; I needed to make certain that you got out alive and I wanted to die a hero in your eyes instead of making you watch me waste away bit by bit."

"You've always been a hero to me, Sirius; at least that's how I saw you once I knew you weren't an insane, murdering psychopath out to kill me. Merlin knows I've got enough of those stalking me as it is. You gave me hope and once you were gone I felt so lost."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry my death hurt you that deeply."

"Are you certain I can't stay with you?"

"I'm sorry, little fawn; you don't belong here."

"Can I at least say hello to mum and dad before I am thrown out?"

"I'm afraid not; they've long since moved on to their next great adventure while the grief you felt for me and the regret I felt for choosing to leave you to avoid a humiliating death held me here until you either joined me in death or until you accepted my death and let me go. Once you go back, I will finally be free to move on as well."

"And Moony…?"

"That old wolf has not passed through here so I'm pretty certain that he still lives."

"What happens now?"

"You walk back out the veil and return to your body and I get to go find Padfoot a few rabbits to chase."

"I still don't want to leave you."

"I know, but you still have a prophecy to face and a handsome blond to wrap around your dainty little finger."

"Can't I stick around to share a slice of treacle tart and a cup of tea before I have to go?" Azalea demanded as she grabbed hold of Sirius and hugged him for all he was worth even as the older wizard picked her up and carried her to the veil. The sixteen year old was set back on her feet a moment later as Sirius pulled himself out of her arms and held the teen at arms length once more.

"I wish you could but we're a bit short on tarts and teas here, in case you didn't notice," Sirius joked before he grew serious as he instructed, "Trust in your instincts, they won't steer you wrong. Trust in your magic, it answers to you and you alone. And above all, trust in your heart for that is where true strength lies. Also, I want you to know that I've always loved you as if you were my daughter and that I couldn't be prouder of you. I will always be proud of you, no matter what; even if you do decide to give yourself to your new friend without the benefit of a wedding band."

Azalea only had a second to take in the look of grief and regret that suddenly filled Sirius's face before she was shoved backwards into the veil. As she fell, a small part of her noted that all that remained of the horrid bundle she'd seen upon her arrival was a tattered blanket sitting in the middle of a black stain. Bright light filled her vision a heartbeat later as her chest exploded with pain once more and she wished she had enough air in her lungs to scream. The light vanished seconds later and she felt like she was rushing backwards through a dark tunnel as the pain continued to increase.

A seeming eternity later, she drew in a shallow breath that set her lungs on fire as the pain in her chest tripled. The second breath she took hurt even worse, though how that was possible, Azalea didn't know. The third breath brought with it her sense of smell and taste as it flooded her senses with the coppery scent of blood that left a bitterly sweet metal tang on the back of her tongue and if she could have, she would have gagged in response. After taking her seventeenth agonizing breath, her heart painfully lurched into motion once more and sluggishly began beating inside her chest.

Each beat of her damaged heart pushed at the blood sitting heavily in her veins until her blood began flowing properly and as circulation slowly returned to her extremities, every single nerve in her body began throbbing and burning in turns. Worse yet was the feeling that she no longer belonged in her body; every joint felt stiff, her bones felt heavy, her skin felt tight, and no matter how much she wished it, she could not move a single muscle. It didn't help that it felt like someone had stuffed her head full of rocks and filled the cracks with sand and molasses; making it difficult to even think.

Azalea lost count of how many breaths she'd taken when she finally found the energy to pry open her eyes and she thought maybe there was something wrong with her vision because all she could see was blue bisected with lines of red that had been splashed with blood. It took her a long time to realize that her face was pressed up against Kurapika's tabard and once she was aware of that, she became aware of the arms cradling her body, the fingers running through her hair, and Kurapika's ragged breathing beneath her cheek. Her hearing returned shortly after that as an endless ringing roar filled her ears before slowly receding until she could hear Chairman Netero's voice finish giving a short solemn speech.

"…the rules of the Final Phase; Killua Zoldyck has been disqualified for killing another applicant and the tournament is now officially over. Before we continue, I'd like to ask you to observe a moment of silence to mourn the loss of a young man who had great potential; may his soul find peace in the afterlife."

Azalea would never be certain if it had been her Marauder heritage speaking out at the time or if it had been her frustration over having just lost Sirius all over again but the moment Netero stopped speaking, she couldn't help but open her mouth to crassly retort, "Bugger that! Dying is overrated because the afterlife has a distinct shortage of pushy teens and treacle tart. Not to mention it's so not worth the pain they charge you as an entrance fee."

Chaos reigned for a second time that day as everyone once again rushed to Azalea's side and hands kept trying to pull her out of Kurapika's arms. She blacked out for a bit at that point and when she next came to, Azalea found herself tucked into a hospital bed with wires and tubes running every which way and an oxygen mask strapped over her mouth and nose; her entire body still feeling as if she'd spent several rounds boxing with the Whomping Willow. Tipping her head sideways, Azalea found a familiar blond sleeping propped up in the chair beside her bed and a soft sigh escaped her lips as she felt torn between relief at knowing she wasn't alone and grief over having been torn from her godfather once more.

Exhaustion soon pulled Azalea back under and she ended up sleeping for seventy-two hours straight; apparently, dying and coming back to life was extremely exhausting on top of being hard on one's body.

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**AN:** _Whew, this was a fairly heavy chapter to write back when I first wrote it. The end of the Hunter's Exam ended as it did in canon but with a twist since it wasn't Bodoro that died. Those of you who are reading my other HxH/HP crossover will see a few similarities in this chapter (Harry &amp; Azalea's reactions to Gon's fight, Illumi's control of Killua, and the ability that allowed both versions of Harry to move through time and space). From this point forward there will be far fewer similarities between the two stories since this was a critical moment in both plots; though there will still be some. _

_One such similarity is in Harry &amp; Azalea's abilities. However, even though the premise for their abilities is the same, there will be differences between them as I explored two different ways of using those abilities. They are also abilities that will be explained throughout the story (so please don't ask me questions about it). The consequences of Azalea's temporary death in this chapter will also be explored within the story. ~ Jenn_

**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	17. Assault x and x Recovery

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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**IMPORTANT WARNING:**

_The second half of this chapter contains a small scene involving molestation and is the reason this story has been rated M. If you feel uncomfortable reading about that sort of thing, then you will want to skip the second half of the chapter; I have marked it with a line break so that those that don't wish to read that part will know where it is safe to stop reading._

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Chapter Seventeen: Assault x and x Recovery

Azalea woke feeling weak and groggy but the pain in her chest had faded to a dull ache and her lungs no longer burned quite so badly with each breath she took. Her body still didn't quite feel like it belonged to her and her magic felt as if it had been suppressed but at least it no longer felt like she was dying all over again. Letting out a soft sigh that was amplified by the oxygen mask she still wore over her mouth and nose, Azalea tipped her head to the side and felt a flash of disappointment when all she found was an empty chair.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, kid; how are you feeling?" Dr. Mackle inquired as he walked into Azalea's line of sight just few minutes later.

Azalea stared at the doctor for several long minutes as she tried to think of the best way to answer that question without encouraging the doctor to poke her in tender and embarrassing places again. Eventually, she settled on a simple, "Sore."

"That's not entirely unexpected. Where exactly does it hurt?"

"My chest, mostly."

"Are you having any trouble breathing?"

"No, not any more," Azalea replied uncertainly before she frowned and added, "It still burns each time I take a breath but no where near as much as it did before. That's different than the deep ache I feel though."

"The pain in your chest is due to the fact that your heart had been pierced in five different places," Dr. Mackle explained as he sat down on the edge of Azalea's bed. "Your left lung was also pierced in two places and both lungs flooded with blood; which was partly why you'd had difficulty breathing before and why they still burn now. Technically, you should be dead. In fact, you were dead for eighteen minutes and seventeen seconds because you'd suffocated while bleeding to death and the placement of your injuries prohibited resuscitation. Your brain completely shut down; as did the rest of your body. We nearly lost you twice more during the twelve hours of surgery it took for me to repair the damage. It's nothing short of a miracle that you are somehow alive and that your brain wasn't permanently damaged."

"It's not a miracle," Azalea countered tiredly as she closed her eyes. "Surviving is what I've always done best; even against impossible odds and even when I would have rather died. I think I lost count of the number of times that I should have died somewhere around number seven or eight; and that was before I had made the decision to enter the Hunter's Exam."

"Kid, from where I am standing; it is a miracle," Dr. Mackle countered as he critically eyed the witch. "There were quite a few individuals that had been devastated when you'd initially been declared dead. Including the young boy that thought he'd killed you, the old man whose life you saved when you stepped in front of the attack that was meant for him, and the young man that dragged you to my Infirmary to fix your hand."

Azalea opened one eye to glance at the doctor but didn't say anything in response because there was nothing to say; the doctor was right, it was a miracle that Azalea had lived. The problem was that living meant being torn away from her godfather once again and it also meant that she'd been unable to escape the prophecy. On the plus side, it did mean that Azalea would one day see her friends again; both new and old.

"I see you understand, good; never forget that there are always two sides to every fence and that just because you don't care doesn't mean that everyone else feels the same way. Moving on, I'll be keeping you here for at least another week for observation; I want to make certain that no further complications arise before I start you on a light physical therapy regime. You'll be on strict bed rest for at least another week after that. Visitations during that time will be strictly limited in order to avoid placing any undue stress on your heart."

"Another week? How long have I been here?"

"Almost five days; you spent most of that first night in surgery, remained unconscious for another day after that, and then you slept for another three days."

"And the Final Phase of the Exam? Will I still be allowed…?"

"The Exam is over."

"Oh," Azalea replied flatly as she finally recalled hearing Netero say something to that effect when she'd first returned to the world of the living and tears pricked the back of her eyes as she realized she'd failed.

After everything she'd risked and all that she'd sacrificed, she'd not even gotten a chance to finish the Exam. It hurt far more than she cared to admit. She'd been so close. And now here she was with no wand, no license, and no chance to get the training she needed because of her injuries.

"Get some rest, kid; your body still has quite a bit of healing to do," Dr. Mackle ordered as he stood up to check on the various IVs that were feeding fluids, vitamins, antibiotics, and pain medications directly into her blood stream.

The next time Azalea woke up, she discovered that the oxygen mask and half of the wires and tubes that had been attached to her had been removed while she'd slept. She also found that she had a visitor in the form of Chairman Isaac Netero. A sense of shame filled Azalea the moment she caught sight of the old man sitting in the chair beside her bed and she swallowed thickly around the lump that formed in her throat as she turned away from the man.

"Good afternoon, young lady," Netero cheerfully greeted Azalea the moment he knew the witch was awake. "I must say that it is heartening to see that you are recovering from your untimely death."

Azalea glanced back at the man in disbelief over the man's rather blasé attitude over Azalea's short stint as a corpse and then the witch snorted in amusement as the man reminded her again of the Weasley twins, which in turn reminded Azalea about Hedwig's rather terrible state upon her return.

"Sir, can you tell me if Hedwig is alright?"

"Hedwig…?"

"My owl, is she alright? Was she hurt badly?"

"Ah, your owl is just fine; she was suffering from an extreme case of exhaustion and muscle strain. It will be a few more days before she's up to taking short flights and at least two weeks before she travels more than ten or fifteen miles but she will be fine."

"Thank Merlin; I was so afraid that I'd sent her to her death."

"You have five more minutes, Chairman Netero," Dr. Mackle interjected at that point as he walked in carrying a tray of food that he slid onto the wheeled table tray beside the bed before he used the bed controls to raise the top half of the bed into an up right position so that Azalea was sitting up. He then adjusted the height of the table and positioned it in front of Azalea so that the witch could easily reach the food and utensils on the tray. Just before he left, the doctor looked at Azalea and ordered, "I expect you to eat at least half of what is there, kid."

"I suppose that was my cue to get to the point, hmm?" Netero mused as he picked up a thin black portfolio with the Hunter's Association Logo embossed on the cover from the small stand beside Azalea's bed and presented it to Azalea with a brief flourish of his wrist. "Please allow me to be the first to congratulate you on passing the two hundred eighty seventh Hunter's Examination and officially welcome you to the Hunter's Association as a Hunter."

"I don't understand… I failed the task; I didn't fight in any matches."

"Killua was disqualified for killing another applicant and according to the rules; the remaining applicants passed the task and earned their licenses as a result."

"Bugger that! No one died!"

"That's not true, young lady; you died. And while you may be sitting here alive and well now; eight minutes after you threw yourself in front of Killua's attack, you were declared dead by the medical staff on hand. The committee originally wasn't going to award you your license due to your death, regardless of the fact that it apparently wasn't as permanent a condition as originally believed, simply because licenses are never awarded posthumously."

"Several of the remaining applicants protested on your behalf and made it perfectly clear that if you didn't pass, then they didn't pass. In fact, all eight newly promoted Hunters unanimously voted to award you a pass for the exam due to your selfless act in saving a fellow examinee and since you were technically still alive the committee had no choice but to submit. It helped that your performance throughout the first four phases of the exam was more than satisfactory."

Netero then pressed the portfolio into Azalea's hands, reminded her to eat her lunch, and admonished her to take it easy before he left; leaving the troubled witch alone with her thoughts. She didn't know how to feel about having passed the Exam so unexpectedly in the wake of everything that had happened after her wand had been destroyed. Sure, it's what she'd wanted and why she'd fought so hard but she almost felt as if she'd cheated because of the way in which she'd passed. She also didn't think it fair to Killua; especially since the kid had not been in full control of himself at the time.

After being prompted twice more to eat, Azalea drank a quarter of the thin soup she'd been given, ate half of the orange jelly, and drank roughly two-thirds of the watered down apple juice before her stomach protested. She then slept for several more hours before the doctor woke her up for supper; of which she ate just slightly more than what she'd managed during lunch. Before she fell asleep again after her second meal, Azalea finally worked up the courage to open the portfolio and was a little surprised when a greeting card sized envelope with her alias neatly scrawled across the cover slid out and fell on her lap.

Setting the envelope aside for a moment, Azalea peered inside the portfolio to find her official Hunter's Certification proclaiming her to be a Dark Wizard Hunter tucked into the left hand cover while on the right side was a pair of thick plastic cards about the size and shape of a credit card; her Hunter's License. She was a bit confused at first as to why there were two cards but soon noted that one had her full name on the front while the other one had her alias on it.

Azalea ran a finger over licenses and felt a wealth of emotion overwhelm her before she snapped the portfolio shut and turned her attention to the envelope that had fallen out. When she opened it, she found three things inside; a letter to her from Chairman Netero, a non-moving photograph, and an old Hunter's License. She read the letter first.

_James,_

_I am certain that you were less than satisfied with my answer when you asked me  
what your great-grandfather was like but at the time you were not a Hunter and  
most of the information regarding Hunters is considered classified; meaning that  
most Hunters will not share information about other Hunters to anyone other than  
a Hunter. _

_I'm certain that you, of all people, can appreciate the need for secrecy when it  
comes to confidential information._

_That said, I am not a heartless old man and I can understand your desire to learn  
more about your family. Consider the photograph of your great-grandfather,  
grandfather, and granduncle and his old license a congratulatory gift from me to  
you for a job well done. _

_When time permits, I would also be willing to share a story or two about some of  
the things your great-grandfather used to get up to when he was about your age._

_Chairman Isaac Netero_

Azalea swallowed thickly as she reached down to grab the photo so she could see what her great-grandfather looked like. She sucked in a sharp breath as she immediately noticed the man's vibrant green eyes that looked so much like hers and her mother's eyes. Next she noted the man had dark red hair that was the same color as her mother's hair which he wore short in a military cut and a thick mustache and goatee that were equally red. Perched on his nose was a pair of arm-less glasses with rectangular lenses set in a brass frame.

In the picture, her great-grandfather was wearing what Azalea recognized as a dark bronze duelist's cloak because it had a similar cut to the dragon-hide cloak that Azalea had purchased just before she fled England. In his arms, he cradled a pair of small babies that he was presenting to the camera and Azalea felt her chest tighten as she took in the pleased half-smile her great-grandfather wore; it was a smile Azalea sometimes saw in the mirror. Flipping the photo over, Azalea read the small neat inscription that had been written on the back.

_Gregory Evans and sons  
April 23, 1943_

Several tears trickled down her face as she realized that her great-grandfather must have died shortly after that photo had been taken as she clearly recalled Netero telling her that the man had died in nineteen-forty-three; meaning that her grandfather and granduncle had grown up without their father; just like Azalea had. Azalea reverently placed the photo back inside of the letter and tucked them both back into the envelope before she turned her attention to her great-grandfather's license.

She let out a soft laugh when she saw that the name on the license was 'Firebrand' as it implied that her maternal great-grandfather had had quite the temper. Something she knew that she and her mother both potentially shared with the man thanks to the precious few stories Sirius and Remus had shared with her about her mother. Her breath hitched a moment later when she noticed that her great-grandfather had also been a Dark Wizard Hunter (according to his license); just like her. There was something powerful in learning that she'd unknowingly followed in the footsteps of a man that should have played a big part in her life (wizards tended to live two and three times longer than muggles, after all).

She tucked the license back into the envelope with the letter and the picture of her great-grandfather and returned the envelope back to the portfolio where it would be safe and protected until she could place both license and picture into her photo album. When she drifted off to sleep shortly after that, she slept with both arms around the portfolio to protect the precious keepsakes it held inside and a tiny, satisfied half-smile on her face. She'd wake up an hour later when Dr. Mackle gave her another shot of morphine to deaden the pain again and the witch nearly panicked when she felt the drug suppress her magic as it flooded her system.

She said nothing to the doctor though for fear that someone would use that knowledge against her at some point in the future.

Two days after learning she'd passed the Hunter's Exam by default, Azalea was growing increasingly antsy due to the prolonged stay in the Infirmary, the physical restrictions she'd been placed under, the constant loss of her magic each time she was given more morphine, and the fact that not a single one of her companions had visited her since she'd regained consciousness. Not even the thrice daily physical therapy sessions she was now being given (to regain full use of her mostly healed right hand and prevent her arm and leg muscles from atrophying from disuse) could hold her attention for long.

The fact that the few people that did visit her (Chairman Netero, Satotz, and Menchi) constantly avoided answering her questions about where the others were only made it worse. Though Netero's stories about her great-grandfather and his debriefings on what her status as a Hunter now meant for her and the wizarding world helped distract her for a while.

Being transferred into a private room alongside a much recovered Hedwig shortly after lunch on her fourth day awake helped cheer her up immensely. Being able to see for herself that her feathered companion was going to be alright eased a little of her frustration and lavishing attention on the snowy owl was always soothing. The news that her belongings wouldn't be returned to her for another couple of days annoyed her because no one would tell her why they couldn't be returned (the witch unaware that Kurapika had taken them with him to protect them for her while she was confined to the Infirmary).

Good mood gone again, Azalea fell back to brooding as she felt abandoned and useless confined to a bed as she was without any news about what happened to Kurapika, Leorio, Gon, or Killua. She tried reading through the books she'd been given by the other Hunters but she hadn't been able to concentrate on anything; her mind worrying over what she'd done to make the others ditch her the moment the opportunity arose (part of her fearing that they'd learned she'd been lying to them about being a boy).

She would have tried chatting with Hedwig but the owl had slipped out to stretch her wings and do a little hunting around three in the afternoon. She ended up falling asleep after an early supper; the dose of morphine she was given at the same time to dull the pain pulling her under within seconds as it suppressed her magic.

* * *

She woke up to a darkened room in complete confusion some six hours later when she found her arms secured over her head, her hospital gown and covers both missing (only her knickers and her bandages preserving her modesty), and another, much heavier body intimately straddling her hips. Fear and anger lanced through Azalea the moment her eyes adjusted to the lack of lighting enough to recognize Hisoka's painted face staring hungrily down at her. Disgust filled her when the man reached up to caress Azalea's face and neck with one hand while his other hand slid back and forth across Azalea's bare stomach.

"I was wondering how much longer it would be before you joined me," Hisoka purred with a grin. "I find myself quite impressed with you once more, little mouse. Can you imagine my surprise when I undressed what I thought was the little boy who caught my attention only to find a little girl in his place?"

"Get off of me and get the hell out of my room," Azalea growled angrily as she fought against the panic rising inside of her due to the vulnerable position she'd found herself in, the knowledge that Hisoka not only knew she was a girl but that he'd undressed her, and the fact that there was still enough morphine in her system to interfere with her magic.

"That is no way to greet your lover, little mouse," Hisoka admonished in an amused tone as he slid the hand on Azalea's face up to curl his fingers in Azalea's hair while the sharp fingernails of the other hand scraped roughly against her stomach; leaving behind five red welts. "

"You are not my lover and you will never be my lover," Azalea hissed back as she began struggling in an attempt to escape; choking back a pained groan as the effort set her half healed chest on fire.

She froze a heartbeat later as Hisoka let out a loud moan of pleasure and declared, "Feeling you writhe beneath me is every bit as delicious as I knew it would be, my little mouse."

"Let me go!"

"No, I don't think I will, little mouse. You have no idea how difficult it has been watching and waiting for them to move you into a private room so that I could reward you for your tantalizing performance during the Final Phase. The potent rage and lethal intent I could feel radiating from you during Illumi's match against his little brother was simply divine. I was most disappointed when you foolishly threw yourself in front of a fatal attack in order to save a weakling though; I will have to train that tendency out of you or you will soon bore me, my little mouse. Although, I must say, you looked utterly delectable laying on the floor in a pool of your own blood."

"You're insane."

Hisoka only laughed as he leaned down to nip painfully at Azalea's neck before he pulled back to whisper lustily in her ear, "It is so exciting to hear such glorious endearments fall from your lips."

The man then nipped and kissed his way up the side of Azalea's neck and jaw until his mouth covered Azalea's. The witch tried to turn her head to escape the unwanted kiss but the hand tangled in her hair prevented her from turning away. She clenched her jaw, pressed her lips tightly together, and fought the bile rising in the back of her throat as the man's tongue sought to enter her mouth. Hisoka's free hand reaching up to press against the half-healed incision on her chest had her gasping in pain briefly before she let out a muffled cry of distress as the man used her automatic response to the pain to invade her mouth.

Rage filled Azalea over the unwanted violation and she bucked against Hisoka in an effort to throw him off as her magic surged up inside of her to burn through the last vestiges of the drug flowing through her veins and turned her irises completely gold in response to her anger. She let out an angry growl as she felt Hisoka moan into her mouth and press himself closer to Azalea in response to the witch's attempts to break free. Azalea's magic retaliated an instant later, zapping the man with a powerful jolt of electricity. Hisoka broke the kiss as he let out another low moan of pleasure.

"Get off of me you sick bastard!" Azalea cried out in anger when the violent attack only served to turn the man on even more.

"I don't think so, little mouse; you've been teasing and tempting me for far too long," Hisoka replied as he reached down to stroke Azalea's bare thighs with both hands; his sharp fingernails once again leaving a series of painful welts across her skin. "I had originally intended to wait a little longer before I claimed you as mine but I find myself impatient now that I have you beneath me."

"Piss off you bloody tosser; I belong to no one, least of all you."

"Oh, how I love the way you keep playing hard to get, my little mouse; I do so love a good chase," Hisoka declared as he pushed himself up and sliced through the bandages on her chest to bare her half-grown breasts. "Fight me all you want, little mouse, it won't change the fact that you belong to me."

Azalea let out a cry of pain and disgust as he reached out to fondle her chest. Desperately, she twisted and kicked in an effort to push the creep off of her. When that didn't work, Azalea focused on her magic once more as she remembered how she'd burned Quirrell with nothing more than a touch and prayed it would work against creepy psychopaths as well as it had against the Voldemort possessed professor. Time slowed down as Hisoka's hands slid down her sides to grab hold of her underwear.

Azalea closed her eyes as she let out a sharp cry of denial in response and urged her magic to attack at the same time as the door to her room swung open and someone turned on the lights. Time sped back up an instant later as Hisoka moaned again as Azalea's magic burned every inch of his flesh that was in contact with the witch (giving him the equivalent of a second degree burn or a severe sunburn). Azalea cried out once more as Hisoka dug his fingernails into her hips and surged up to cover her with his body before he bit the side of her neck hard enough to draw blood.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" an angry and very familiar voice demanded and Azalea jerked her head sideways and opened her eyes in horror to find Kurapika and Leorio standing in the door staring at the scene in shock.

Azalea opened her mouth to beg for help only for one of Hisoka's hands to reach up and to press itself over her mouth as the man pushed himself up just enough to glance at the two standing in the door as he drawled, "My little mouse and I were enjoying a moment alone together before the two of you rudely barged in. If you don't mind, we'd like a little privacy; unless you'd like to watch?"

Azalea let out a choked scream that was smothered by Hisoka's hand at the thought of being trapped alone with the man for even a minute longer. A single tear slid down the side of Azalea's face as she saw a flash of anger and disgust cross Kurapika's face; the witch hurt that the blond appeared to have chosen to believe Hisoka's words. Infuriated by the fact that she'd been too weak to fight off Hisoka (completely ignoring the fact that she was still recovering from her brief brush with death) and beyond humiliated by the things the man had done to her, Azalea opened her mouth to bite down on Hisoka's hand hard enough to draw blood as she let out a feral growl that originated deep in her chest.

Hisoka jerked his hand free in surprise at the unexpected attack and sat up to stare into Azalea's angry gold eyes as Azalea snarled out an angry, "Get the hell off of me you lying bastard!"

Azalea then focused all of her remaining magic to attack whatever it was that was binding her hands (something she wished she'd thought to do sooner). She felt something shredding and tearing beneath her magic an instant later and she gave out a hoarse cry of triumph as she pulled her hands free and let the incantation for the Banishing Charm rise to her tongue as she thrust her right palm against Hisoka's chest. Just as she cast the spell, Kurapika's foot unexpectedly connected with Hisoka's face; the force of both kick and spell enough to send the man flying across the room where he dented the wall upon impact in addition to the kick breaking his nose and splitting his lip.

Azalea took several ragged breaths and closed her eyes as a sense of relief washed through her now that the man was no longer touching her. She then began trembling as she was hit with the enormity of what had just happened and what had almost happened and she let out a strangled sob as she pressed her hands to her face. She let out a pained whine a split second later as pain lanced across her chest. The feel of cloth sliding against her naked flesh coupled with the weight of someone settling onto the bed beside her had her letting out a frightened cry as she violently twisted away from the presence of another so close to her.

"Easy, James, you're safe now; I won't let him touch you again," Kurapika murmured softly and Azalea didn't dare breathe as she turned her head to the side and opened her eyes to find the blond watching her with eyes of scarlet fire.

She tore her eyes away from the entrancing sight of Kurapika's rage filled eyes as shame filled her. Azalea was disgusted with herself over the fact that she hadn't been able to stop Hisoka sooner and the knowledge that Kurapika and Leorio had both witnessed her humiliation. Ignoring the growing pain in her chest, Azalea rolled the rest of the way onto her side, curled up into a ball, and fought to hold back the tears burning her eyes.

"Take good care of my little mouse for me, Kurapika," Hisoka ordered as he climbed to his feet, snapped his nose back into proper alignment, and wiped the blood from his face. "Just remember that she belongs to me and that I will return to claim what is mine when the time is right. And while I will tolerate your interference this time; I will not be as charitable should you interfere a second time. You should also warn her little practice boyfriend not to get too carried away as well. Enjoy your freedom while you can, little mouse."

Azalea let out a strangled scream that was half anger and half terror and pressed her face against her knees as she listened to Hisoka's footsteps leaving the room. A hand lightly settling against her shoulder had her tensing and cutting off a sharp whine as her breath caught in her throat.

"He's gone now, James," Kurapika murmured as the hand lightly squeezed her shoulder before withdrawing completely and Azalea took a shuddering breath and relaxed slightly. "Leorio, can you please track down Dr. Mackle?"

"Yeah, I can do that," Leorio replied dazedly just before a second set of footsteps exited the room.

Silence fell over the room not long after Leorio departed and Azalea feared she'd been left entirely alone (and therefore once more vulnerable and open to attack) until she felt Kurapika shifting beside her. Azalea felt a measure of relief before she began to fear that Kurapika was angry with her over what had happened as she recalled seeing eyes filled with scarlet fire staring down at her. The look of anger and disgust that she'd seen on the blond's face came back to haunt her at that moment and Azalea gagged on the rush of bile that filled the back of her throat.

"James…?"

"You must hate me now," Azalea muttered hoarsely into her knees once she'd swallowed the bile burning the back of her throat.

"I could never hate you, James," Kurapika countered as he shifted on the bed again before he gently began running his fingers through Azalea's hair. "Why would you think that I would hate you?"

"I saw the disgusted look you gave me earlier when Hisoka lied to you about… about… what he was…"

"Silly kitten, I was disgusted at Hisoka for implying that you were in any way enjoying his attention. I was also angry with myself for not being here to stop him from getting to you in the first place. What exactly happened, James? How did you end up…?" Azalea shuddered as she recalled waking up to find herself at Hisoka's mercy. "James…?"

"He caught me while I was sleeping," Azalea replied in a voice that shook. "I didn't wake up until after he'd stripped me and bound my hands. I don't have any idea how long he'd been sitting there just watching me or if he did more than just watch me before I woke up."

"What happened after you woke up?"

"I kept telling him to let me go and leave me alone but he wouldn't listen. Not even my magic lashing out at him made him stop. I think the pain of the attacks only served to encourage him. Nothing I did or said would make him stop and I felt so damn helpless and angry all at the same time."

"James, how badly did he hurt you? Did he tear anything?"

"He only scratched me with his nails a couple of times and I think he drew blood when he bit my neck. I don't know if he was the one that ripped my incision open or if I did when I was trying to get free. I just wanted to get him off of me and stop touching me. Merlin, Kura, just thinking about the feel of his hands and mouth on me makes me sick."

Azalea felt arms lifting her from the bed and she tensed until she found herself being held gently against Kurapika's chest as the blond pulled the sheets around to wrap them more securely around her before wrapping the witch in a gentle hug. Azalea let out a strangled sob as she recognized the offer of comfort for what it was and pulled her arms free of the blankets to wrap her arms around Kurapika in return as she pressed her face against the blond's shoulder. For the second time that night, the enormity of everything that had happened that night cascaded over her and this time Azalea didn't even try to hold back the flood of tears as she clung to Kurapika.

She had no idea how long she sat there bawling her eyes out as Kurapika rocked her back and forth while running his fingers through her hair before the storm of her emotions receded. Numbness settled over her as her tears slowly dried up and her whimpered cries faded to sniffles and soft hiccuped sobs while the pain in her chest gradually made itself known again. A few minutes later, she sat up a bit and felt a bit embarrassed as she realized she'd made a mess out of Kurapika's tabard as she'd gotten tears, blood, and snot all over it.

"I'm sorry I made a mess of your clothes."

"It's fine, kitten; don't worry about it," Kurapika insisted as he leaned back and searched Azalea's face intently. "Are you going to be alright, James?" Azalea shrugged listlessly as she glanced away from the older teen. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if you there is anything you need, anything at all, don't be afraid to let me know; no matter how silly or stupid you think it might be. Even if you think it might be unreasonable, okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

**AN:** _I just wanted to point out that the scene with Hisoka was more about revealing the sordid depths of Hisoka's character and about unveiling Azalea as a girl than it was about what might have happened if Kurapika hadn't shown up when he did. That scene was also what necessitated the M rating that I gave this story._

_And no, Hisoka isn't going to 'get away' with what he did even if he did walk away. The only reason why Kurapika didn't chase after him was because he was more worried about Azalea and Leorio froze up since he was stunned by both Hisoka's attack and by the revelation that 'James' was a girl. He (Hisoka) will be dealt with later in the story. _

_Anyway, those of you who are reading my other HxH/HP crossover will notice that there are a couple of slight differences between in the Gregory Evans's family at this point; with this story having him father a pair of twins and dying shortly after they were born while he only sired one child and died when his son was roughly three years old in the other story. That was intentional; I wanted the family to be a bit different since the abilities that both Harrys inherited from the Evans family are the same (the golden flash &amp; sliding through time/space just one aspect of it). That will be explained in later chapters though; in both instances. ~ Jenn_

**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	18. Trust x and x Tests

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Trust x and x Tests

The sound of someone knocking on the frame of the door had Azalea tensing in Kurapika's arms while the blond shifted so he could glance towards the door. She cringed and huddled in on herself when the blond verbally addressed the person.

"Come in, Dr. Mackle; I've been expecting you."

"The tall gentleman you sent to fetch me informed me that there had been an attack," Dr. Mackle stated as his footsteps slowly approached the bed and Azalea couldn't help but shiver over the idea of yet someone else knowing what had just happened to her. "How is she?"

"Still shaken but no longer in a panic," Kurapika replied as he shifted around a bit and glanced down at Azalea. "The incision on her chest was torn open again and I saw a number of bruises, a few scratches, and torn skin where she was bit but I believe that is the extent of her injuries."

"It is," Azalea added as she turned her head to warily watch the doctor as the man stopped beside the bed.

"I'm relieved to hear that, kid. How much pain are you in right now? Do you feel a deep pain in your chest or are you having any problems breathing?"

"My chest feels bruised and it aches a bit when I breathe but it's not that bad."

"Hmm, let's just take a peek see and see how much damage was done. If you'll set the kid back on the bed and step outside while I tend to her injuries, young man?"

"No!" Azalea cried sharply as a lance of fear pierced her at the thought of Kurapika leaving her alone and she twisted her fingers into Kurapika's tabard to hold him in place.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist on staying, doctor."

"I suppose I have no reason to object given my patient's insistence on the matter. You'll still need to set her down and move aside so that I can get to work."

Gold tinged green eyes brimming with panic glanced up to meet worried brown eyes for a moment. Kurapika then sighed as he lifted Azalea higher and pushed himself further up onto the bed before he spun around so that he was no longer sitting between Azalea and the doctor. The teen then set Azalea down on the bed beside him and untangled Azalea's hands from his tabard so he could sit up. Azalea let out a soft whine as she closed her eyes and made to curl up on her side.

"Easy, James, I'm not going any where and you need to let Dr. Mackle look at your chest," Kurapika murmured as he grabbed hold of Azalea's left hand and gently rubbed circles on the back of Azalea's hand with his thumb. "The sooner you lie down on your back and let him stop the bleeding, the sooner it will be over."

Azalea reluctantly complied with the gentle command as she took comfort from Kurapika's presence as the doctor adjusted the sheets just enough to bare the ruined and blood soaked gauze barely covering Azalea's chest. The witch focused intently on the thumb still rubbing circles on the back of her hand as she felt the doctor removed the soiled gauze and she couldn't help but shiver as the tape tugged at her skin as it was removed. She thought she heard the faint snap of a camera being used but she forgot about it two minutes later as the sting of the doctor cleaning the blood away from her chest reminded her of Hisoka pressing down on her chest when he'd kissed her earlier.

Her eyes flew open and she gasped sharply as she jerked away from the stinging pain. She relaxed when she didn't see the redhead any where and she breathed a little easier when Kurapika squeezed her hand to remind her he was still there. As she turned her head to the side to look up at the blond once more, Azalea furrowed her brow as she recalled the fact that she'd not seen the blond for over four days and that she'd now been ousted as a girl. Her earlier irritation over the fact that no one would tell her where any of the others had gone returned and she couldn't help the scowl that pulled down on the corners of her mouth.

"What's wrong, James?"

"Why didn't you and the others come visit me? No one would tell me where any of you were after I woke up four days ago. And… and… how angry are you with me for hiding the fact that I'm a girl from you?"

"I went with Leorio and Gon to find Killua so that we could let him know that you were alive and make certain that he was alright," Kurapika answered as a pained expression briefly crossed the blond's face. "He'd become inconsolable the moment you were pronounced dead and he fled before any one could stop him. The rest of us stayed until we knew for certain that you would live through your surgery and then we immediately set out to retrieve Killua after bullying his brother into telling us where he'd gone. It took us far longer than we'd expected to see him though and he didn't want to believe us at first when we told him that you were still alive but Gon convinced him in the end."

"I saw Leorio earlier but where are Gon and Killua? They are here as well, right?"

"Killua couldn't bring himself to face you; he thinks you will hate him because of what happened. Gon stayed with him with the intention of trying to talk him into coming to see you at least once and to keep an eye on him since he was obviously still upset over what happened."

"It wasn't his fault," Azalea growled tightly. "Someone was manipulating him. He tried to fight it but whoever it was that got to him was too strong for him to fight on his own. I saw it in his eyes; that's why I threw myself in front of his attack. I needed to break him out of the spell because I didn't know how far the person controlling him would make him go."

"About that, why the hell couldn't you have just pushed Bodoro out of the way instead of using yourself as a damn shield?" Kurapika demanded as his hand reflexively tightened on Azalea's and his eyes flashed red briefly.

Azalea sighed and closed her eyes while she ignored the tugging sensation on her chest as Dr. Mackle replaced several stitches that had been torn free from the incision. After a moment she softly explained, "I didn't have time to think and plan; I acted the moment I saw Killua move and I fully expected my cloak to protect me. And I noticed you still haven't answered my other question."

"A piece of fabric can't protect you from a knife, James; and Killua can make his fingers as sharp as any knife!"

"Actually, my cloak can; unless the blade has been cursed or charmed. The cloak is not made from ordinary leather, Kura; it's made from the near indestructible hide of a dragon. Only the hide from a graphorn exceeds the protective qualities of dragon-hide. There's reason why I never took that cloak off; and it wasn't just because I thought it looked good on me. I had expected my cloak to deflect Killua's attack and it did to a point; he didn't rip my heart out of my chest, after all."

"I need you to sit up now, kid; so I can wrap you up now that I'm finished with your chest," Dr. Mackle interjected before Kurapika could respond to Azalea's declaration. Kurapika helped Azalea to sit up and was quick to shift the blankets to help preserve Azalea's modesty when they fell away from her. "Thank you, if you'll lift your arms up and out of the way for me now?"

That request was too much for Azalea as it abruptly brought back everything that had happened earlier (her mind immediately leaping to the feeling of her hands being bound above her head) and she would have bolted off the bed entirely if not for Kurapika refusing to let go of her hand. And while she knew intellectually that the doctor would not harm her, the emotional wounds she'd received were far too raw for her to push past her fears just yet. That and a large part of her didn't really trust any adult to protect her because far too many adults had hurt her during her life time.

"Please calm down, James," Kurapika instructed as he reached out to turn Azalea's face so that the witch was looking at him. "I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you." Azalea slumped against the older teen and took a shuddering breath as she tried to bring her emotions back under her control. "Dr. Mackle, if you pass me the gauze, I'll wrap up James's chest. Thank you, doctor. James, I want you to sit up and put your hands on my shoulders. Good, now relax and try to hold still while I take care of this."

Azalea clamped her eyes shut and fisted her hands in Kurapika's tabard as she tried not to whine as she felt the teen's hands sliding around and over her chest as he wrapped the gauze securely around Azalea's chest in order to hold the fresh squares of gauze the doctor had lightly taped over Azalea's incision in place. Tremors wracked her body every few seconds while her magic rose effortlessly to thrum just beneath the surface of her skin as it reacted to her emotions. Thankfully, it didn't take Kurapika long to finish and Azalea sagged in relief the moment the teen tucked the end of the gauze beneath the rest of the bandages before securing it with a strip of tape.

"I'm going to give you another shot of morphine now, kid," Dr. Mackle stated as he pulled a glass bottle of clear liquid and an unopened syringe pack out of his pocket.

"No! You can't!" Azalea cried as she twisted around to stare at the doctor in fear.

"Doctor, is it absolutely necessary?"

"No, it's not necessary but it will ease her pain and allow her to sleep while I check for any signs of forced entry. While I trust her word that things didn't reach that stage, I am obligated by law to carry out a thorough examination in the event that she wishes to press charges against her attacker. That means I will also need to photograph each one of her bruises and any other injury, no matter how small, that she might have received during the course of the attack."

"I don't care," Azalea blurted out as she leaned further away from the doctor and the needle he held in his hand.

"James…?"

"I don't want to be defenseless again."

"Are you certain you want to stay awake during the doctor's exam, kitten? It's not going to be very pleasant for you."

"I don't care… I just don't want him to make me sleep again."

"Very well," Dr. Mackle stated with a sigh as he reluctantly tucked away the morphine and unopened syringe. "But I'm warning you now; if you fly into a panic and tear open your incision a second time, then I will sedate you whether you want me to or not."

Azalea soldiered through the next hour in a state of near constant panic while forcing herself to cooperate with the doctor as the man completed the examination. That included sitting still through the visual and physical inspection of her body and while the bruises and teeth marks on her neck, the light scratches across her stomach, and small gouges on her hips were all photographed. Numerous fluid and tissue samples were also taken before she was given a partial sponge bath and the places where Hisoka had broken skin with his nails or teeth were cleaned, treated, and bandaged as necessary.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Kurapika held her hand and murmured soft reassurances that she wasn't alone.

Once the doctor finished, Kurapika helped Azalea put on a clean change of clothes and set her in a chair while the sheets and blankets on her bed were changed out. The seventeen year old then tucked the young witch back into bed and sat down in the chair to watch over Azalea after dimming the lights. That only lasted for a full five minutes before Azalea attempted to migrate off the bed and onto Kurapika's lap in search of comfort and security.

Azalea spent the rest of the night with her head pillowed on Kurapika's shoulder as he lay on top of the covers beside her while she fought to stay awake. Each time she found herself dozing, the sixteen year old would jerk awake with a startled cry and search the room fearfully for Hisoka before settling back down. It was an exhausting ordeal and when the witch finally fell into a fitful sleep around dawn, she tossed and turned as her dreams were haunted with nightmares.

She woke even more exhausted than she'd been when she could no longer keep herself awake and her appetite, which had barely been recovering after her temporary death, was non-existent. The only reason she forced herself to choke down a few bites here and there was because it was Kurapika asking her to eat; the witch not willing to go back on her word that she would follow the blond's instructions when it came to her training and her health.

Her mistrust of adults, particularly adult males, had also become decidedly more pronounced as she completely panicked at the mere thought of being left alone with any adult. On top of the increased distrust, she had difficulty sleeping at night out of fear of being attacked again. And lastly, unexpected touches (something that always bothered Azalea) would now send her into a panic attack and cause her magic to automatically lash out at the perceived threat.

Kurapika had only gotten shocked once before he learned to always make certain he had Azalea's attention before he touched her; something that was doubly necessary when Azalea was only half awake since that was when she felt most vulnerable. Dr. Mackle still occasionally forgot, the man had a rather one-tracked mind at times, and therefore he'd been on the receiving end of some rather painful and humiliating defensive hexes (more than half of it accidental) on more than one occasion.

Thankfully, most everyone was patient and understanding due to the ordeal she'd suffered through and so didn't take offense. If not for Kurapika, it probably would have been ten times worse as the teen's endless patience and constant presence helped keep Azalea grounded during the worst of the panic attacks.

After the rather stressful week following Hisoka's attack, Azalea was officially released from Dr. Mackle's care; her magic greatly speeding up the healing process once it was no longer being regularly suppressed by the morphine. She was ordered to take it easy for at least another two weeks and to avoid getting hit in the chest for at least another month or two. Azalea wasted no time in demanding her things be returned only to learn that Kurapika had had them the entire time and had been keeping them safe for her.

"What will you do now, James?" Kurapika asked as he watched Azalea gather up the few things she had spread around the room and toss them into her book bag; including her Hunter's Portfolio.

Azalea paused in her packing and glanced nervously over her shoulder before she tentatively replied, "I thought I was going with you… but if you don't want to be bothered with me anymore, I guess I can try and find someone else to train me. I guess I shouldn't have assumed… especially not after lying to you like I did…"

"James, I was never angry about you trying to pass yourself off as a boy and I can easily guess at the reasons why you chose to hide yourself the way you did. Knowing that you're actually a girl actually explains all of the little things that had been confusing me since the day we met. Such as why your voice always sounded a little too high, why you didn't have an Adam's apple, why you never seemed to move like a boy, why you seemed overly careful never to get too close to the other male applicants, why you never answered my question about the bandages around your chest, and why I suddenly found myself attracted to another male."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be; you did nothing wrong."

"But I…"

"It's fine; although it is a bit awkward calling you James now that I know you're a girl."

"James was actually my father's name," Azalea admitted with a shrug as she toyed with the strap of her book bag. "I had the choice using my father's name, my godfather's name, a friend's name, or using a shortened version of my first name but I never cared for my first name, so I went with my father's name since everyone always told me how much I looked like him and I thought it would be the easiest one for me to remember to respond to."

"And what, if I might ask, is your name?"

After a brief hesitation, Azalea replied, "Harriet Azalea Potter; but most of my friends usually call me Azalea. You're welcome to call me whatever you want when we're alone but whenever we're in public I'd prefer that you keep calling me James; I still don't want to advertise who I am to the world at large, especially when I still can't really defend myself."

"I just can't picture you as a Harry," Kurapika mused as he studied her for a moment and Azalea laughed softly before she turned back to her packing. "And, just so you know, I don't mind you traveling with me and my offer to train you still stands; I just wanted to make certain that that was what you still wanted. I just didn't want to presume and make you uncomfortable if you'd changed your mind; especially after what happened with Hisoka."

"I'd prefer to stay with you but I don't want to be a burden and if you're sick of me clinging to you…"

"You're not a burden and I didn't think you were being overly clingy. You were the victim of a sexual assault and to be honest, I'm surprised you didn't keep me at arm's length like you did everyone else."

"I trust you and you've always been honest with me. You're also only one year older than me."

"What does my age have to do with anything?"

Azalea met Kurapika's gaze with troubled eyes for a moment before she turned away and walked up to the window so she could stare out over the small courtyard garden her room overlooked. She caught sight of Hedwig sitting in a tree dozing and she watched the shadows dancing over the feathers of her familiar for several minutes as she ordered her thoughts.

"Out of all the adults I've met and interacted with throughout my life, I can name on one hand the number of them that didn't cause me harm in some way, shape, or form; whether it was intentional or purely accidental," Azalea began hesitantly as she closed her eyes and pressed her head against the glass. "I know you know the bare basics of how my aunt and uncle treated me growing up; they took pains to make certain the rest of the neighborhood and the teachers at school treated me with contempt or indifference. As far as I know, everyone assumed that I was the troubled delinquent that the Dursley's painted me as and it hurt that none of them would look at me long enough to see the truth."

"The wizarding world was even worse. I have been verbally abused by more than one professor, I'd been attacked by several professors, and I've been ignored and chastised for trying to bring problems to the attention of several other adults and professors. Nearly every single major attack I have faced has been at the hand of an adult; whether it was an intentional attack or not. They've verbally cut me down, they've physically pushed me around, they've magically sought to kill, maim, or torture me, and they've sent me into situations that could kill me."

"The one woman that has attempted to mother me more often than not smothered me and ignored my needs and wants in favor of pretending that I'm a two year old in need of coddling. Of the men that could have been father figures of a sort; one treated me like I'm some sort of fascinating zoo exhibit half the time, one attempted to eat me on the night of the full moon and mostly avoids me now because of it, and the last one sought a quick death because he was already dying. And the man I looked up to and saw as a grandfather? He manipulated my entire life right up until the day I ran off and a part of me fears that he'd intentionally been keeping me weak in order to set me up as some sort of sacrificial lamb."

Azalea opened her eyes and glanced back at Kurapika as she finished, "So, age has everything to do with why I can trust you since it's been proven to me time and time again that I can't trust an adult."

"You do realize that I will be an adult in about three months, right?" Kurapika pointed out as he crossed the room.

"I know… such a terrible fate it is too, I'm mourning the day of your demise already."

"Cheeky brat."

"What can I say; I was cursed with the genes of a practical joker."

Kurapika laughed as he stepped up behind Azalea and pulled the shorter teen into his arms. Azalea tensed briefly before she relaxed back against Kurapika's chest with a soft sigh.

"Are you finished packing, kitten?"

"Almost."

"Hop to it then, we've got places to go and people to see."

"What a bossy blond you've turned out to be," Azalea groused as Kurapika spun her around and gently pushed her back towards the middle of the room.

"Ah, you've resorted to using annoying alliterations already have you? Hmm… if I were to reciprocate, would that mean you've become a whiney witch?"

"And you are obviously obnoxious."

"And you are purposefully procrastinating."

"Pushy prat."

"Babbling brat."

"Troublesome teen."

"Snarky sorceress."

"Persistent prat."

"You already used prat once, silly kitten."

"You used brat twice…"

"So I did but the first time was long before we started exchanging creative insults. Are you packed yet?"

"Yes."

"Then let us go say our goodbyes so we can leave."

An hour later, the two of them were tucked into the back of a cab headed towards the airport to catch a flight out of the country after saying goodbye to the chairman, examiners (Azalea making certain to glare at Lippo at least twice; the witch was still irritated with the man), Dr. Mackle, and Leorio (the latter heading home to apply for med school). Azalea pensively stared out the window while she stroked Hedwig's back as she thought back to Chairman Netero's parting words.

_You will cross paths with another Hunter soon and while he will be abrasive and demanding; he does not seek to harm you and he is a trustworthy man. He is also one of the few Hunters that are aware of who you are and what you can do._

"Jenny for your thoughts?" Kurapika offered after the silence had dragged on for more than half of the ride.

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering what it was you were worrying about, James."

"Oh, I was just thinking about what Chairman Netero said before we left."

"Ah, I should have guessed. Try not to let it worry you too much."

"I can't help it. I don't have a name or face to go with his warning and any one could claim to be the one I'm supposed to meet."

"You're forgetting something."

"Huh? What did I forget?"

"That you will not be alone and therefore he will be meeting both of us."

"Oh, right; sorry, I guess I'm just nervous."

"Understandable given the circumstances, I suppose."

"Do you think I'm overreacting?"

"No, but I do think you are focusing too much on only part of what Netero said; he also said the man we will be meeting is trustworthy and that he means you no harm."

"My headmaster constantly swore up and down that he trusted Snivellus but that doesn't change the fact that the greasy dungeon bat was a bastard of the highest order and took perverse pleasure in insulting me, my intelligence, my abilities, my friends, and my father with petty and spiteful remarks designed to cut and tear."

"I understand that your past experiences influence the way you react in any given situation, which is as it should be since you will never grow if you don't learn from your experiences, but keep in mind that you should withhold judgment until after you've actually met the man. Be cautious and question his motives, by all means, but don't automatically label him as an enemy until he actually turns out to be one."

"Constant vigilance with a side of common sense," Azalea quipped with a soft laugh.

Mood lightened, Azalea spent the rest of the ride asking Kurapika about the various continents they could expect to visit while they were gathering information. It was the most relaxed Azalea had been since Hisoka's attack and it showed in the way she'd regained a measure of the easy going and slightly snarky personality she'd revealed off and on during the course of the Hunter's Exam. Sadly, it didn't last long as the witch felt on edge from the moment they entered the crowded airport due to the large number of adults that held no respect for another's personal space and the unshakable feeling that someone was watching her.

She calmed down a bit once they were on the airship that would deliver them to their first destination but she couldn't quite shake the feeling she had that they were being followed. Azalea might have feared that it was Hisoka if not for Satotz passing along the information that the redheaded psychopath had departed from the continent immediately after the attack had been interrupted. There was no news on exactly where the man had gone but there was very little chance that the man could be following them at the moment.

To help pass the time and avoid sinking into a panic attack over her own paranoia, Azalea sat curled up in her seat and meditated in order to work on taming the wild storm that was her magic as well as familiarize herself with the two animals that represented her inner nature. Kurapika watched over her during that time; making certain that no one snuck up on the witch while she was open and vulnerable to attack. Hidden behind a secret panel not far from where the two teens were seated, a man with an angular face, dark brown eyes, sparse mustache and goatee, and shaggy brown hair observed the pair intently.

Azalea heard Kurapika calling to her several hours later and she reluctantly resurfaced from her meditation to find that the airship had landed. She spent a few minutes stretching out stiff muscles before she gathered her book bag and lifted Hedwig from the chair she'd been sitting in; the snowy owl still needed a bit more time to recover from her exhausting round trip. As the two teens headed for the exit, Azalea paused briefly and stared right at the hidden compartment where their shadow had spent the trip watching them before she hurried to catch up to the blond; leaving behind a grinning Hunter.

The next three days were spent camping out just outside of the ruins of a long abandoned but still active city. During that time, Kurapika finally began Azalea's physical training; he started by adding a series of light calisthenics to the witch's daily physical therapy sessions and had her practice her carving on the various branches that they'd collected from Zevil Island. That was on top of Azalea's magical training which currently involved a substantial amount of meditation. Each night, Azalea crawled into her sleeping bag beside Kurapika's and slept the sleep of the exhausted as she cautiously pushed her body to its limits under Kurapika's supervision.

Azalea didn't have time to fear falling asleep during those nights as her nightmares were buried beneath pure physical exhaustion. In fact, Azalea slept easier during those nights since she finally felt that she was doing something. That she now had a chance to grow stronger. And that knowledge filled her with a burning determination that chased her fears away a little more each day.

On the fourth day, the two of them packed up their camp and headed into the city in order for Kurapika to visit an underground employment agency that catered solely to Hunters looking for work. Azalea didn't question the blond's need to find a job just as the blond didn't question Azalea's disinterest in taking a job. The only thing that Azalea had asked was what would happen to her the moment that Kurapika accepted a position; Kurapika promised that he would continue Azalea's training until Azalea needed to leave (no matter what job he ended up with).

From the moment they entered the near empty ruins, Azalea felt on edge as she once again sensed eyes watching her. It was a like a persistent itch just out of reach in the center of her back and she tensed and started at every little thing like a high strung horse. Kurapika tried to put her at ease with quiet assurances that everything would be alright but Azalea just couldn't shake the feeling that they were being stalked. The fact that Hedwig continuously shifted nervously upon her shoulder only reinforced that feeling as there was no doubt in Azalea's mind that the owl sensed their stalker as well.

By the time they were half way to their destination, Azalea's eyes were swirling with gold dust motes as her magic thrummed through her veins with each beat of her heart. Hedwig's amber eyes glittered just as brightly as she rode on her shoulder with her eyes unwaveringly glued to their unwanted shadow. Kurapika started growing antsy as a result because the blond was worried that Azalea would sink into a panic attack or lash out at an innocent while she was so unsettled.

The man trailing after them was both amused and concerned; amused because the witch could sense him while the more experienced blond could not and concerned because the witch was far too close to losing control.

They eventually came to a stop outside of a towering building in the very heart of the city and the two of them paused just outside of the entrance when Azalea softly ordered Hedwig to wait outside. Azalea then glanced back over her shoulder and growled softly (the sound originating deep in her chest) as her eyes unerringly landed on the building where she knew their stalker was hiding. Kurapika called her name and rested a hand on her shoulder in concern and Azalea reluctantly tore her eyes away from the one hunting them to follow the older teen into the building.

"James?"

"I don't like being hunted," Azalea growled softly in reply to the unspoken question she could hear in Kurapika's voice as they made their way down into the basement of the building. "I'm _not_ a mouse."

"No, you most assuredly aren't a timid little mouse, kitten," Kurapika agreed and Azalea felt a measure of her irritation recede as she let a secretive little half smile slip onto her face as she recalled just how true that statement was when her thoughts flew directly to her dual animagus forms. "I know that look; it's the same look you wore just before you hit Killua and Gon with those hexes while the three of you were rough housing during the final hours of the Third Phase. What are you planning, James?"

"Nothing," Azalea drawled out in a playful tone as the smile grew a little larger.

"Somehow that worries me even more," Kurapika retorted while Azalea snickered unrepentantly as she briefly glanced up at the taller teen walking beside her. They reached the door to the agency's office just a few minutes later and Azalea slowed to a stop several feet away from the door while Kurapika didn't hesitate to walk right up to the door. It took the blond a moment to realize that Azalea hadn't followed him and he paused in the open doorway to glance back at the diminutive witch as he asked, "Aren't you coming in, James?"

"No, I'm going to wait out here."

"What? Why?"

"I don't like the idea of being trapped in a small room with only one exit while our stalker is still out there some where. I don't want to be caught in an ambush on the way out either."

"Are you sure? Will you be alright out here alone?"

"I'm sure, Kura; and I will be fine."

"Alright, I shouldn't be too long."

Azalea nodded in response and moved over to the corner of the hallway to the left of the door before she crouched down to face the empty stretch of hallway leading back to the stairwell. She felt Kurapika's eyes linger on her for a moment longer before the blond stepped into the office and closed the door. The witch knew that the older teen was confused by her sudden willingness to be left alone; something that Azalea had avoided without fail ever since Hisoka had attacked her. The closest she'd come was when using the bathroom and even then Kurapika had held a conversation with her through the closed door in order to let her know that he was still there.

Azalea also knew that she couldn't forever rely upon the blond to hold her hand every step of the way. It wasn't really fair of her to expect Kurapika to forever protect her from her own inner demons. Besides, things weren't so bad now that she was no longer anywhere near where the attack had happened and that the last few nights had been nightmare free.

Closing her eyes, Azalea reached for her magic as she took several slow, deep breaths before she cast a wandless detection charm in order to determine just how many people were actually in the immediate area; trying to use as little magic as possible because she worried about overpowering the spell again. Unfortunately, the spell was still far too powerful and Azalea ended up with a rather painful migraine as her brain tried to assimilate the overload of information fed directly into her mind by the spell. She grimaced and clutched at her head as she bit back a loud curse and tried to ignore the pain while at the same time trying to make heads or tails over the large map her magic had just crammed into her head.

Several minutes passed before the pain began to recede and Azalea sighed with relief over both the lessening of pain and over the confirmation that there were only three people on the basement floor; though there were six spread throughout the upper floors and there were four more positioned at each of the four corners of the building outside. Azalea suspected those outside were guards of some sort, given their positions. She also found the person she thought was their stalker hovering just on the edge of the spell's range in the same building he'd been in when Azalea and Kurapika had reached their destination.

The last vestiges of the spell and the information it had given her had just faded completely from her mind, leaving only a dull ache stabbing into her brain from just behind her eyes, when Kurapika slammed the door open and stalked out of the small office. Azalea jumped at the unexpected sound of the door crashing into the wall before she shook off her shock and pulled out her silver potions knife (which she'd taken to carrying in her pocket since she'd started practicing her carving) as she glanced between the irate blond and the door. She wondered what had happened and almost regretted her decision to stay out in the hallway.

"Kura, what happened…?"

"Not now, James."

"Okay."

"Come on, we're leaving."

Azalea silently trailed after the blond even as she glanced back one last time in the direction of the office. The witch also felt a small flash of guilt as she wondered if how uncertain and off balanced she felt in that moment was how her friends felt when she was being moody. She made a silent vow to herself to try and be less moody in the future before she began thinking of something she could do to cheer the older teen up or at least get his mind off whatever had gone wrong. The moment they stepped outside, Kurapika took off in the direction of the forest outside of the ruins without even stopping to make certain that Azalea was behind him or to give her enough time to collect Hedwig.

Frowning, Azalea did her best to try to keep up with the taller teen as Kurapika unconsciously doubled his pace in his agitation; his longer legs eating up the ground. After an hour of trotting, Azalea's chest began to ache a touch and she began falling back as her breathing became labored; her body still rather weak from her injury. When they reached the edge of the forest, there was a good ten meters separating them and Azalea was far too winded to call out to the teen in order to ask him to wait up. She probably should have spoken up sooner but she hadn't wanted to disturb Kurapika's brooding since Azalea knew how annoying it was to be pestered when something was bothering her.

Worse yet, while she'd been so focused on her concern about her companion and on trying not to get left behind, Azalea had completely forgotten about their stalker. She was abruptly reminded of the man that had been trailing them since they'd stepped inside of the airport after leaving the Association's Hotel just as she stumbled to a stop and clutched at her chest some twenty minutes later.

One second she was on the verge of collapsing as she struggled to breathe against the stabbing pain filling her chest and the next her senses were screaming at her in warning. Time seemed to slow down as Azalea spun around on her heel and pulled on her magic as she registered something small and deadly flying through the air just a several feet away from her on a path that she just knew would hit Kurapika. Her eyes turned solid gold as rage surged through her over her stupidity in forgetting about their stalker and the mere thought of someone seeking to hurt the blond.

Uncaring of the pain that still filled her chest, Azalea focused her entire attention on the small projectile speeding through the air and threw herself forward. Her magic once again flashed gold around her as she slipped through both time and space with one hand outstretched. Time sped back up as Azalea's hand closed around the strange bullet as if it was a miniature snitch and she gave a sharp cry of triumph as she spun around on her heel with the momentum of the bullet. She stopped when she was facing the direction the bullet had come from and opened her hand to release the offending projectile as she cast a wandless Banishing Charm to send it back from where it had come from.

She fell to her knees a second later as the bullet slammed into a tree and exploded at the same time as the pain in Azalea's chest slammed back into her awareness. She then had but a split second to register someone appearing directly behind her before a blow to the back of the neck sent her into blackness.

* * *

Kurapika had been irritated and frustrated beyond belief after he'd been told that he was lacking something and therefore could not be recommended to any of the potential employers on top of the declaration that the Hunter's Exam had not actually ended despite the fact that he'd earned his license. He'd let that frustration cloud his mind as he collected Azalea and stalked out of the building. He also hadn't noticed that he was steadily drawing further away from the not quite recovered witch as he was entirely wrapped up in his thoughts and worries about what it was he couldn't see.

The first indication that there was something wrong came when he sensed something off in the forest around him and he slowed to a stop as he spun around to glance at the forest behind him. He felt like someone had kicked him in his stomach when he saw Azalea clutching at her chest quite some distance behind him. He didn't have much time to focus on the guilt he felt over ignoring the witch's health in his irritation as he suddenly sensed danger all around him. It was in that moment that he suddenly recalled Azalea's insistence that they were being followed and he cursed as he took off running back towards the shorter teen.

As he ran, he watched Azalea suddenly spin around and then Kurapika's heart rose up in his chest as he saw the petit brunette slip across a distance of roughly ten feet in the blink of an eye with a flash of gold; the same as she had just seconds before Killua impaled her in the chest. The witch than gave out a cry as she spun on her heel and threw out her hand. A tree exploded just seconds later but Kurapika only had eyes for the witch as she dropped to her knees while clutching at her chest.

By that time, Kurapika had crossed half the distance separating the two of them and he hoped and prayed that the sixteen year old hadn't been injured too seriously by whatever it was she'd thrown herself in front of this time. The blond skidded to a halt in shock a moment later as an unfamiliar man with shaggy brown hair appeared from out of nowhere and knocked Azalea unconscious with a blow to the back of her neck. Rage filled Kurapika at the audacity of someone attacking the witch (more than half of it self directed as he realized it was his fault that the witch had been in a position to be harmed) and his vision was painted red as his eyes turned scarlet.

"Get away from he… him!" Kurapika ordered as he pulled free his swords and began moving again.

"I will not," the man stated as he picked Azalea up off the ground. "The girl needs someone a little more responsible to keep an eye on her. You didn't even notice that she'd barely been keeping up with you from the moment you left the city and you noticed far too late that her heart was giving out on her. Hell, you practically dismissed all of her concerns about the two of you being followed; concerns that were valid since I've been following the two of you for days now. It was actually sad to see her far more worried for your health than her own as she threw herself between my bullet and you and left herself wide open to attack while also making her condition worse."

"Put her down or you will die."

"You'd willingly attack me while I held her life in my hands?"

"I won't have to; the moment that she wakes up and finds herself in the arms of a strange adult male, she's going to completely flip out and kill you herself."

"Ah, yes, her panic attacks. Don't worry; the witch can't hurt me any more than you could hurt me right now, especially when you consider the fact that she has no control over her magic at the moment."

"You're the Hunter that Chairman Netero said we would meet," Kurapika deduced the moment the man admitted that he knew Azalea was a witch as he slowed to a stop and lowered his swords as his rage faded and his vision cleared.

"Yes, and you're lucky that I've seen enough of your skills throughout the last few weeks to know that you have great potential or I'd fail you now. There's also the fact that I need to keep you around in order to get our little friend here to cooperate with the training I have been tasked to give you both."

"Training?"

"Yes, training. You didn't think that you'd suddenly be a proper Hunter just because you had a license now, did you?"

Kurapika blushed bright red in response to the man's sarcastic question because that was exactly what he'd thought. He then paled a bit as his eyes zeroed in on the pale witch cradled in the man's arms. He quickly tucked his swords away at the small of his back as he moved closer.

"I'll carry her."

"No, you can collect firewood as you follow me back to my camp."

* * *

**Notes: **

Jenny – refers to the currency used in the HxH universe

Azalea's Panic – is a direct result of Hisoka's attack. In time, she will eventually grow out of that as she grows stronger and more confident in her ability to defend herself; something that is seen in this chapter but will be far more apparent in the next couple of chapters.

Dumbledore – no, this is NOT an evil Dumbledore story. Right now, we are only really seeing Azalea's side of things and she's disillusioned enough with the man to question his motives. Insight into Dumbledore's character will be given in three or four chapters, I think.

* * *

**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	19. Nen x vs x Magic

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: Nen x vs. x Magic

Azalea woke with a start and bolted up off of the camp bed she'd been sleeping on wide eyed with fright when she didn't recognize her surroundings. She tripped backwards over the bed just seconds later when her eyes landed on the back of a strange man sitting beside the fire just a few feet away as her memory of being attacked in the forest came rushing back. When she didn't see Kurapika anywhere, Azalea scrambled back up onto her feet and gave out a whine of fear before she growled in anger over the mere thought that her attacker might have harmed the blond.

"Relax, brat; I'm not here to hurt you."

"Who the hell are you? Why the bloody hell did you attack me? And what in the name of Merlin's grubby and moth eaten underwear have you done to Kura? If you've hurt him, I swear by Merlin and all that is unholy that I will make you pay."

"My name is Mizuken. I didn't attack you; I was testing you and your friend and I was forced to knock you unconscious before you did yourself any further harm. I don't know if you realized it or not but you were just seconds from suffering through heart failure due to your foolishness. And your friend is fine; I merely sent him to gather more firewood because I wished to see what you would do if you woke up alone with me. I must say you didn't panic nearly as badly as I'd anticipated you would, given the fact that I'm the first adult male that you've been left alone with since Hisoka attacked you."

"How in the hell do you know about that!? Just who the hell are you and what do you want with me!?" Azalea demanded as she drew on her magic in case she needed to defend herself and danced further back away from the man who still hadn't turned around to look at her.

"I was given a copy of the police report with your file, Miss Potter. Chairman Netero thought I should be aware of what had happened along with your emotional and mental instability in the wake of the attack due to the fact that I have been assigned to train you."

"If you know that name, then that makes you the Hunter that he said we'd meet. Why the hell did you stalk us for so long instead of stepping forward and introducing yourself?"

"Several reasons but mostly I just wanted to see if either one of you would notice my presence while I gathered the information that I would need to determine if the two of you were worth training or if it would be a waste of my time to even try. I found it amusing that you and your feathered friend were often aware of my presence but was disappointed when you lost track of me while you were vulnerable. I was more than a little upset when you then stupidly risked your health and your life with that stunt you pulled with my Nen bullet."

"It would have hit Kura and I will not allow anyone to harm any more of my friends."

"And what would have happened to your friend if someone that truly meant him harm had captured you to use against him because you stupidly put yourself at risk? You need to learn to think things through; injuring yourself or getting yourself captured to save another doesn't mean the ones you were trying to protect will be spared and all you would have done is put yourself out of action and leave the ones you were trying to protect open to attack."

Mizuken paused for a moment to make certain that she had taken his words to heart before he continued, "You need to accept that your life is worth something only if you are alive and that you will be far more effective in protecting others if you take fewer risks. For example, you flew to London to save your godfather; you could have easily stopped by your godfather's house, which was also in London, to find an adult to help you and found that your godfather wasn't actually missing."

Azalea didn't respond to that as the pain of everything she'd done wrong the day she and the others had ran head first into the trap that the Dark Lord had set for her and what her mistakes had cost her and her friends that night swept over her. The fact that she now knew that her godfather had gone to the Ministry in order to die that night didn't really help make accepting the man's death any easier. She was so wrapped up in her emotions from what she saw as one of her worst mistakes that she didn't even think to wonder why she was so willing to trust the unfamiliar Hunter when she'd not even trusted Dr. Mackle not to hurt her after Hisoka's attack.

"Have a seat, Miss Potter; your body is still weak and you pushed yourself too far yesterday."

The witch gingerly crept back up to the camp bed she'd woken up on and righted it before taking at seat on it; staying as far away from the man as she could as she suddenly recalled that the man was an adult that she didn't actually know. She let her eyes dart around the camp again at that point as she hoped to see some sign of Kurapika and felt a flash of worry and disappointment when there was still no sign of the blond. Her attention then returned to the man seated beside the camp fire as he finally turned around to look at Azalea.

The man had a rather thin and angular face, shadowed dark brown eyes, a close cut and exceedingly sparse mustache and goatee, and thick shaggy brown hair. The clothes he wore were comfortable and well worn. In some ways, the man reminded Azalea of Remus but the weary down trodden air that always hung about the werewolf was not present in this man. In fact, the man felt more than a little predatory and Azalea thought he felt far more wolf-like than Remus did. The way the shadows from the fire half covered the man's face in the evening light only emphasized the feeling.

A snuffled bark sounded from above her at that moment as Hedwig dropped down to land on her shoulder and Azalea automatically reached up to pet her without taking her eyes off the man. She calmly ignored the dead frog that the owl clutched in her beak; long used to Hedwig's attempts to share her hunts with her. When she didn't take the proffered frog, Hedwig gave a muffled bark of complaint (as if to tell Azalea that she wasn't eating enough again) before she swallowed the carcass whole.

"Are you a wizard?" Azalea asked once she was finished with her inspection.

"No."

"Then what exactly is it you are supposed to train me in? Kura is already giving me lessons in self-defense."

"I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself against people like Hisoka that can use their aura to control you, trick you, harm you, or kill you."

"Aura? Hisoka's not a wizard though, he doesn't have an aura; I tested him when Tonpa called him a magician the night before the First Phase started."

"Idiot witch; all humans have an aura," Mizuken countered with a snort. "Even animals and plants have an aura. An aura is the life energy that all living things possess that separates them from the dead. We refer to the aura and a person's ability to use or manipulate their aura as Nen. The four major principles of Nen are Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu. Ten is used to defend oneself against the aura attacks of another Nen user but is useless against physical attacks. Zetsu refers to one's ability to suppress their aura completely in order to hide their presence from another and also leaves one completely defenseless against even the weakest aura attack."

"Ren allows you to use your aura to attack another or enhance your body to make you stronger or faster. And finally, Hatsu is the ability to use your aura to carry out your will; though how you use your aura greatly depends upon the type of Nen you have. There are six different types of Nen users and they are; Enhancer, Transmuter, Conjurer, Emitter, Manipulator, and Specialist. And while it is possible to develop abilities outside of your basic type, those abilities will always be weaker and focusing on those types of attacks will limit one's ability to reach their full potential."

"Enhancers have the ability to strengthen and reinforce their natural abilities, Transmuters have the ability to change their aura to mimic something else, Conjurers can create solid objects from their aura, Emitters can create intangible objects from their aura to attack, Manipulators can control objects or living things, and Specialists have abilities that don't fall into any of the other categories."

"Those abilities don't sound all that different from what I can do with my magic," Azalea pointed out as she tipped her head to one side and furrowed her brow.

"That's because magic is made up of a person's life force; their aura."

"But not everyone can use magic… my aunt, uncle, and cousin were all non-magicals; though it is possible that my aunt and cousin are squibs now that I think about it."

"There are two differences between a magical and non-magical person," Mizuken explained patiently. "The first is that a non-magical person's aura is finite; meaning that each non-magical person is born with a set amount of life force that dissipates throughout their lifetime. Conversely, a magical person is born with an ability to absorb the airborne energy released by other living things and integrate that energy into their aura; essentially making their life force infinite. The amount of life force a person is born with and the rate at which it dissipates varies from person to person regardless of whether they are magical or not; which is why some people live longer than others and why some magicals are more powerful than others."

The man then grabbed a stick from the pile of branches beside the campfire and scratched out a hexagon on the ground before labeling each corner with one of the six abilities. Their order, starting from the topmost point and going clockwise, was; Enhancer, Transmuter, Conjurer, Specialist, Manipulator, and Emitter. Mizuken then connected each angle of the hexagon with the one opposite of it so that the inside of the diagram had been broken into six equal parts before he circled the point at which the three lines crossed and wrote magic inside of it after smoothing out the lines inside of the circle.

The man then looked up as he continued, "The second difference between a magical and non-magical person has to do with aura type. This is a diagram that shows how each of the six types of auras relate to one another and it is often used to determine one's compatibility with an ability other than the one linked to their aura type; an example being that an Enhancer will find it far easier to use an Emitter's ability than he would a Conjurer's ability. The only exception is that non-Specialists usually will not be able to use Specialization abilities aside from Manipulators and Conjurers who have a one percent potential to develop the ability to use Specialization later in life."

"All non-magicals fall into one of those six categories. Magicals, however, sit right smack in the center of the diagram in a separate category of their own because their magic is made up of all six types and can use the abilities of each, though some magicals will display a greater affinity for one or more types that they find far easier to use than others. The reason for that is due to the fact that they are constantly absorbing and integrating the energy from all six types of auras into their life force from the moment they are born and the more time they spend around people with a specific type of aura, the more of that aura type they absorb."

"Does that mean they'd find spells that fall into one category easier to use then others? Like a transfiguration master being able to easily conjure objects or change one object into another while someone good at charms is good at manipulating things?"

"Yes; that is exactly what I was referring to, Miss Potter."

"And you can teach me how to break my magic into those six separate parts so that I can use my aura to protect myself?"

"No, I can't teach you how to do that because I don't know how to separate your magic into the separate types of auras; you'll need to figure that out on your own. However, once you know how to do that, then I can train you to use the individual Nen abilities."

"Oh."

"Zalea! You're awake!" Kurapika cried out in relief as he stumbled into the camp at that moment carrying an armful of dead branches. He quickly dumped the wood beside the fire before he hurried forward to sweep Azalea up into his arms; the witch blushing over the way the blond had verbally caressed the slightly shortened form of her middle name. "I was so worried that you'd been seriously hurt because I was stupid and forgot that you were still healing. Are you alright? Are you having any trouble breathing? Does your chest hurt at all?"

"I'm fine," Azalea replied with a small laugh as she hugged the teen in return and buried her face against Kurapika's neck as the last of her tension melted away. "I was worried when I couldn't find you when I first woke up; I thought something had happened to you."

"I'm alright, kitten; mostly just angry at myself for not thinking about your health in my frustration. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, mother."

"Cheeky brat."

"I live to serve."

Kurapika laughed and tightened his arms around Azalea as he buried his nose in Azalea's hair. Azalea let out a soft sigh of contentment as she snuggled against the older teen. Memories of the kisses they'd shared prior to her encounter with Hisoka on the airship after the Fourth Phase filled Azalea's mind for the first time in what seemed like ages and she let out a soft humming purr in response to the feelings those memories invoked. She then unconsciously nuzzled Kurapika's neck before pressing a few kisses to the warm flesh.

"Kitten…?" Kurapika asked questioningly as he pulled back a bit in surprise over the unexpected show of affection.

"Now is not the time to be necking," Mizuken dryly declared. "I think it best that the two of you discard any notions of physical intimacy because I don't need the headache of dealing with a witch in the midst of a complete panic attack when a few innocent kisses lead to something she'll regret. And you should know better than to encourage her, blondie, seeing as how you're supposed to be protecting her from those that want to take advantage of her; not taking advantage of her yourself."

"Go bugger yourself," Azalea snapped back as she leaned around Kurapika to glare at the man. "You aren't my keeper and I don't need your permission to kiss anyone. I have not once regretted kissing Kurapika and I sure as hell won't start regretting it now. Besides, my godfather gave me his blessings before he kicked me out of the afterlife."

To prove her point, Azalea reached up to pull Kurapika's head down so she could properly kiss the blond. Kurapika froze for a split second before he gladly returned the kiss and Azalea hummed in pleasure before she surrendered control of the kiss to the blond.

"You made you're point, girl; now kindly remove your tongue from his mouth. You may be free to kiss whomever you please but that doesn't mean I want a private showing. I also want to make it perfectly clear that you are to leave your personal relationship out of your training; I won't have you killing yourself because you were drooling over one another when you should have been focusing on your training. And finally, you are to address me with respect. Is that clear?"

Azalea reluctantly pulled away as a spike of irritation shot through her over being called girl in addition to the demand for respect and she growled under her breath before she retorted, "First of all; my name is not girl. Do _not_ call me that again. And second of all; respect is meant to be earned. If you want me to respect you, then you damn well better prove that you are worthy of my respect. I've had enough of the adults in my life belittling me just because they thought they could while demanding that I treat them with respect and I refuse to tolerate it any longer."

"If you do not show me respect, Miss Potter, then I will not teach you; which means that you will fail your test and your license will be revoked."

"Don't make threats that you and I both know you don't intend to keep," Azalea retorted as her eyes glittered with gold dust as her irritation drew on her magic once more. "You already made your decision to train the two of us or you would not have bothered to follow us for as long as you did. I will not tolerate you treating me like a child. I may be short and I may not yet have reached my majority but I am not a child. I was never allowed to be a child and any automatic respect I could have once held for adults and other authority figures was beaten out of me long ago."

"You are an annoyingly stubborn little wench, Miss Potter."

"Thank you for the complement," Azalea cheekily retorted as her irritation fled just as quickly as it had come. She then turned utterly serious as she stated, "I'm only going to nicely ask you once to please stop using my last name; outside of the wizarding world I'm known only as James in order to protect myself and those that know me from my enemies."

"Did you have any other questions about Nen?" Mizuken asked several minutes later as he turned away from the two teens and stirred the coals of the fire before adding more wood.

"What does Nen feel like and how are you supposed to go about using it? Can you show me an example of what it looks like when someone else uses it?" Azalea asked after a moment as she sat back down on the camp bed and pulled Kurapika down next to her so that she could snuggle against the other teen; the witch seeking a small measure of comfort from the blond's presence.

Azalea spent the next hour curled up beside Kurapika as she listened to Mizuken lecture the two of them on the two methods of awakening a persons' ability to use Nen, the dangers inherent in using Nen, and further explained the four principles of Nen. Once he was finished with that, he gave the requested demonstration and Azalea had a brief panic attack when the feeling evoked by Mizuken's use of Ren reminded her sharply of the feeling that Hisoka had radiated both the time he'd confronted Azalea on the airship and the night he'd attacked the witch. Once she'd regained control of herself, Azalea watched as Mizuken awakened Kurapika's ability to use Nen.

Azalea's awakening wouldn't take place until nearly a week later in order to give her body time to grow stronger and to give the witch time to grow a little more comfortable around the man. During that week, Azalea continued with the light physical training that Kurapika had started her on, practiced her carving, and spent a considerable amount of time in meditation studying her magic anew using the knowledge that Mizuken had given her about Nen, auras, and Nen abilities. Kurapika split his time between helping Azalea with her physical training, keeping up with his own training, and working with Mizuken on manipulating his Nen.

At the end of each day, the two of them would retreat into Azalea's tent to sleep; the two of them sharing the bed with Kurapika sleeping on top of the covers under an unzipped sleeping bag. Occasionally, the two of them would share a few kisses when they were alone though they were no where near as passionate as the ones they'd shared during the Fourth Phase of the Exam. Kurapika also made it a point to never put Azalea into a position in which she'd feel vulnerable or threatened and continued to allow her to set the pace of their relationship; which was currently going very slowly as the witch continued to recover from both her injury and Hisoka's attack.

At the end of that first week, Azalea stood pensively facing Kurapika as Mizuken stepped up behind her and the witch had to force herself not to flinch away from the man. She shivered and tensed her shoulders as she felt the man reach out as if to touch her back and she had to focus on Kurapika in order to fight the urge to bolt away. She took a couple of deep breaths to help fight her growing discomfort and nervously waited for the man to do whatever it was he did to awaken Kurapika's Nen ability.

Seconds later, she felt an incredible wave of foreign heat wash over her and she stumbled away from the source of the heat as she cried out sharply. At the same time, her magic rushed up from the depths of her core to shove the invading force out of her body. After the heat vanished, instead of stopping just beneath her skin like it normally did, her magic flowed out of her body and wrapped around her in a visible aura of gold fire. She could literally feel her magic flowing out and away from her and she felt a brief moment of panic when she couldn't halt the flow.

"Concentrate; you need to stop panicking and focus on bringing the flow of your aura back under your control," Mizuken ordered from just a few feet behind her.

Azalea closed her eyes, struggled to bring her breathing back under control, and slipped into a meditative trance in response to the order. Calmness washed through her as she concentrated on the soothing feeling of contentment she felt each morning when she woke up curled up beside Kurapika. A few minutes later, it felt like she was encased in warm honey as her magic calmed and flowed around her instead of rushing off in an uncontrollable flood.

"Good job, Miss Potter, now slowly open your eyes."

When Azalea complied with the order, she found herself looking out at the world through a haze of gold. She lifted her hands and stared at the visible layer of magic she could feel flowing over and around her body before she glanced over at Kurapika to find the blond engulfed in a translucent cloud of pale silvery-white. A look over her shoulder showed her that Mizuken was also enshrouded in silvery-white, though his was not quite as translucent as the one surrounding the blond and it didn't spread out so far from the older Hunter's skin.

"Why is does my aura appear so dense in comparison to the ones surrounding the two of you? And why is my aura gold? Is that because of my magic?"

"Stop thinking of your aura and your magic as being two separate things, Miss Potter; your magic is your aura. And yes, both the color and density are due to the fact that you possess a meld of all six types of Nen Abilities. Now, I want you to focus on the feeling of your aura wrapping itself around you for a moment; what does it feel like?"

"Like warm honey; slightly heavy but not restricting. It also feels eager, like a playful kitten waiting to pounce on a string; lazy, like a cat basking in a warm patch of sunlight; and dangerous, like tiger stalking its prey. And I thought I asked you nicely to stop using my last name; as far as the Hunter Association is concerned my name is James."

"That is an interesting analysis. What I want you to do now is release your aura and allow it to withdraw back into your body."

It took far longer for Azalea to comply with the order this time; her magic did not want to return to her core. Just pulling it back inside of her body had her sweating heavily as it fought her every step of the way. Eventually, her magic submitted to her will and withdrew completely; leaving Azalea on her knees panting heavily. When Mizuken told her to bring her aura out again the moment she'd just pulled it back, Azalea shot him a dirty look as she really had no desire to go through that a second time.

She did it anyway.

Two hours later, Azalea was exhausted and her aura (her magic) was far calmer than it had been since the day her wand had been destroyed (though still far wilder than it had been when her core had been bound). It also obeyed her without question now when she called it forth to enshroud her body using Ten or sent it back into her core. She'd over exhausted herself while gaining that control however and she'd passed out the moment Mizuken finally told her she was finished for the day. Kurapika would carry her to their shared bed so she could rest after she'd passed out.

The next day, Mizuken declared that Azalea needed to start running each day in order to build up her stamina after he'd consulted Kurapika on the physical training schedule that the teen had created for the witch. She would start out slow and switch out between walking and jogging and slowly build up the distance she 'ran' until she was running a minimum of five miles a day. Mizuken also added two hours of Nen practice (one in the morning and one in the evening) in order for Azalea to improve her control. Azalea would incorporate the additional practice into the time she spent meditating on her magic because the two activities were so similar in nature.

Kurapika's Nen training during this time focused on him using Zetsu to hide his presence; something that Azalea did naturally (even after her loss of control due to her core being freed from the bindings) as she'd long ago learned to suppress her magic as a form of self preservation (both from the Dursleys and from her fan-club). The fact that Azalea had been using her magic for close to six years gave her some advantages over Kurapika in their Nen training, though the fact that she no longer had the same level of control she'd had previously meant that she struggled even with that advantage. Kurapika on the other hand had years of discipline to call upon as well as his determination to avenge his clan; which meant the blond drove himself ever forward in order to get stronger.

After another week, Azalea started practicing her wandless spell casting once more. She used the same basic routine that she'd used on Zevil Island during the first day of the Fourth Phase when she'd needed to burn off her frustration over her earlier confusion about her feelings for the blond. This time she used the ruined bits of wood from her carving practice and stuck them to trees for targets in another clearing less than a mile away from their camp instead of transfiguring or conjuring ones like she had before. She also had an audience this time as both Kurapika and Mizuken had followed her out of curiosity.

Once the targets were in place, she buttoned up her dragon-hide cloak; fingering the five finger sized holes that rested over her heart for a moment. She then shoved her brief death out of her mind as she strode to the center of the clearing and fell into the duelers stance she'd taken to using when she fought with her magic; her right foot forward, the right side of her body angled towards her first target, her left arm curled up so that her hand was nearly touching the back of her head (for balance), and her right arm held straight out in front of her with her palm facing outwards. She then closed her eyes and let her magic flow freely through her body.

She opened her eyes to reveal completely gold irises once she was ready and she held herself still for a full minute before she exploded into action. Wandless Stinging Hexes flew from her right hand and shattered each of her targets as she still overpowered the usually harmless (if painful and annoying) spell. She tightened her control on her magic, clenched her teeth, and hit the biggest pieces still clinging to the trees with a second hex and was pleased to note that while they still shattered, the fragments that exploded outwards weren't nearly as small (meaning she'd successfully cut the amount of magic in each spell).

She then began Summoning, Levitating, and Banishing dozens of pebbles that buried themselves in the trees all around the clearing. She continued with that spell chain until the pebbles were merely bouncing off of the trees rather than punching through them but that had more to do with the fact that she was growing tired than it did with control; each over powered spell taking three times the amount of energy as a normal powered one. She added in Freezing Charms, Sticking Charms, and Blasting Hexes to the spell chain next (now that she'd gained a measure of control through the partial exhaustion).

After an hour and a half, Azalea lowered her arm in disgust as she scowled at the ground and struggled to bring her ragged breathing back under control. Previously, she'd been able to cast both wanded and wandless spells for close to six hours before she'd grow far too exhausted to continue (so long as she wasn't exhausted or injured). Her spells had also been far more consistent and easier to predict. Wiping the sweat from her face with her arm, Azalea headed for the edge of the clearing only to stop when she saw both Kurapika and Mizuken gaping at the destruction she'd caused in such a short amount of time.

"Remind me never to piss you off, kitten," Kurapika muttered as he took one last glance around the clearing.

"I must say that was quite an impressive display and from here on out, I think I'm going to call you firecracker."

Azalea snorted in amusement over Kurapika's response before she scowled at Mizuken, "No, that was a rather pathetic display as I've still not regained full control and I barely lasted for more than an hour before I risked passing out from magical exhaustion. I used to be able to steadily cast a non-stop barrage of spells for four and five hours straight before my wand was destroyed when I shredded the bindings on my core."

"And it was utterly sloppy. During the first forty-five minutes, all of my spells were ridiculously overpowered which resulted in a total waste of magic. The Stinging Hexes should have done nothing more than make the targets bounce against trees; not shatter them into millions of pieces. And don't even get me started on the Banishing Charms smashing the pebbles through the tree when they should have just bounced off them the entire time."

Rant over, Azalea trudged back to camp and dug out the last couple of cauldron cakes she had and moodily dropped down beside the fire to eat the cakes. The new nickname Mizuken had bestowed upon her was dismissed outright; she'd been called far worse things during the course of her childhood and during her five years at Hogwarts. There was also the fact that it was somewhat similar to her great-grandfather's nickname and allowed her to have yet another small connection to the man.

Kurapika didn't allow her to brood for long as the blond set her to working on her carving. She'd actually improved over the past couple of weeks and she was currently learning how to refine the shape of the small swords she was making so that they looked like actual swords instead of crude imitations and how to avoid weakening the wooden blades with uneven cuts. She was also given lessons on the different types of blades and which ones were best suited to her height and build so that she could select an appropriate style of sword when she finally started carving the oak branch she'd been given by the bowtruckles.

The very next day, Mizuken began teaching them how to use Ren. He had them start by enshrouding themselves using Ten before he had them slowly increase the amount of Nen they were pushing out while still holding it around their bodies. Kurapika got the concept fairly quickly while Azalea's magic tended to slip out of her control the moment she tried to expand her aura; resulting in a shockwave of magic spiraling outwards from the witch.

Over the next handful of days, Azalea worked on using Ren as diligently as she worked on regaining control of her wandless spell casting as she suspected the difficulties she had with each were linked since they were both fundamentally the same thing; the only difference being the volume of magic involved and the method of released used. Ren used her magic in its purest form while the spells converted her magic into different types of energy for the spells based upon the type of spell she was using.

It would take Azalea six days to gain the smallest measure of control using Ren and another eight days after that to consistently be able to maintain that control.

At the end of their fourth week of training with Mizuken (around the same time Azalea gained a measure of consistent control over her Ren), the man poured water into a wine glass and floated a single leaf on top of the water before setting it in front of Kurapika as the three of them sat at a small camp table. They were going to be using water divination to determine their Aura Type. Mizuken had wanted to test them sooner but he'd needed to wait until Azalea had some control over her Ren while Kurapika concentrated on further refining his own control during that time.

Kurapika was asked to go first; Mizuken instructing him to hold his hands on either side of the glass while maintaining a distance of three to five inches of space between his hands and the glass while focusing his Ren on the water inside of the glass. Azalea couldn't help but lean a little closer as she pushed her glasses back into place so she could see if there was anything happening to the glass of water. After a few minutes, she could see small grains of what looked like sand or tiny crystals forming in the water. Mizuken saw them as well and told Kurapika that he could stop.

"Congratulations, blondie, the formation of inclusions in the water means that you're a Conjurer," Mizuken announced as he poured out the water, rinsed the glass, refilled it with fresh water, placed a new leaf on top, and set it down in front of Azalea this time as he addressed the witch. "That means it's your turn, firecracker."

Azalea nodded as she eyed the water and leaf carefully as she stretched her hands out on either side of the glass. She then closed her eyes and concentrated on pulling forth her aura shroud before slowly and steadily increasing her aura. The sound of breaking glass and the sharp order from Mizuken to stop had Azalea opening her eyes as she withdrew her aura back into her body. Azalea's eyes bugged out rather comically as she took in what had happened to the water and leaf inside of the glass as well as to the glass itself.

The leaf had broken apart and scattered over the surface of the water while hundreds of tiny crystals had formed in the water at the same time as the water itself had doubled in volume, spun up out of it like a water spout in a hurricane, turned sweet (as if sugar had been added), and turned a dark red before it froze solid; the pressure of the sudden change in temperature causing the glass to crack.

"And that is the difference between Nen and magic," Mizuken stated as he gestured to the still frozen mess that Azalea had made of the glass of water and leaf. "Only one ability had manifested itself during blondie's turn. All six abilities were manifested when the little firecracker here took her turn. She created inclusions like a Conjurer, changed the color of the water like an Emitter, moved the leaf like a Manipulator, increased the volume of water like an Enhancer, changed the taste of the water like a Transmuter (just sample the ice if you don't believe me), and when she changed the state of the water and leaf it demonstrated the ability of a Specialist. The fact that the changes were quick and violent is an indication of just how much potential the little firecracker has and how little control she has over her aura."

"So what happens now?" Azalea asked as she tore her eyes away from the rather spectacular mess she'd made.

"Now, the two of you will need to focus on refining your Nen abilities; blondie will need to practice using Ren and Hatsu in order to make the changes to the water more pronounced and start thinking about what skills he wishes to develop using his abilities as a Conjurer. You, on the other hand, little firecracker; will need to bring your aura more firmly under your control and figure out how to separate your magic into six different auras in order to progress as a Nen user at this point. Continuing your meditation and your physical training will help as the stronger you are mentally and physically, the easier it is to use and manipulate your aura."

"Joy," Azalea sighed as she snapped off a small icicle from the mess in front of her, stuck it in her mouth, and hummed at the pleasantly sweat taste.

* * *

**AN:** _I am still not quite happy with this chapter; it feels rather tedious in places. It is at least far better than the original chapter I had written and then edited at least a dozen times before it ended up in its current form. ~ Jenn_

**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	20. Letters x from x Home

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty: Letters x from x Home

Two weeks and thirty-three more ruined wine glasses later (which she'd been required to purchase herself since Mizuken had no interest in buying things just for her to break), Azalea stormed away from her Nen practice in a foul mood as her distinct lack of progress was really beginning to get to her. At least her physical progress had been heartening; otherwise she'd have been in an even worse mood. To work off her frustration, Azalea dumped out the contents of her book bag all over the coffee table and couch in her tent's living room so she could sort through everything to determine if she needed to purchase any supplies soon.

She started with what food she had left and made it a point to keep track of what she had and how much of it she had on a piece of parchment so she didn't loose track of everything. She wasn't really surprised to find that most of the food she'd picked up before leaving England was nearly gone; she'd shared her supplies with four other people for nearly two weeks, after all. And all four of the boys had eaten far more in one sitting than Azalea ever had (though Azalea herself was also eating far more than she used to thanks to Kurapika's insistence that she eat properly). She'd also been sharing those supplies with Kurapika and Mizuken over the past two months

She'd barely finished with the food and moved onto her candy supply when she came across the package that Hedwig had brought her close to three months ago and she felt a rock settle into the pit of her stomach as she realized that she'd forgotten all about it in the wake of her temporary death, Hisoka's attack, and her training. Abandoning the mess she'd made in the living room, Azalea robotically made her way into the kitchen, sat down in the first chair she came to, placed the package on the table in front of her, and stared at it. Nearly twenty minutes had passed before she found the courage to untie the string and the moment she pulled the string off, words appeared on the brown paper that the box had been wrapped in.

_Unless you wish to be hexed purple and green in five point six seconds, you will either  
need to replace the string you just removed or give the password._

Azalea placed her right index finger on the package and pulled her magic to the surface as she intoned, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The words on the package immediate changed to read; _Glad to see that you are keeping your priorities straight, partner, _and Azalea snorted with exasperated amusement as she ripped the paper off the package so she could see what was inside.

Azalea let out a whistle as she pulled the lid from the box and glanced inside to find far more than she ever expected and she silently thanked the witch or wizard that developed the Undetectable Expansion Charm and the Featherweight Charm because without those two spells there was no way that Hedwig would have survived carrying the package as far as she had. She immediately dove into the box and began pulling out a series of smaller boxes; each one labeled with the information of who had sent it to her and brief description of what was inside.

There was a box labeled as homemade treats from Mrs. Weasley, a box of newspaper clippings from Mr. Weasley, a box of owl treats and rock cakes from Hagrid, two boxes labeled as Christmas and Birthday gifts from everyone, a box of pranks from the twins, books from Lupin and Moody, and several other odds and ends. The one that caught Azalea's attention though was the box labeled as letters from everyone. Swallowing thickly, Azalea pushed the other boxes off to one side as she set that one on the table in front of her and used the password a second time to dismantle the protective spells she knew the twins would have placed on it.

Inside she found several bundles of envelopes and scrolls; each bundle holding the letters written by a specific individual. On top of the bundles was a tightly rolled scroll that was nearly three inches in diameter that had the words '_Read Me First_' scrawled across the front of it. Azalea's hands shook as she used the Map's password for a third time before breaking the wax seal and unrolling the rather long letter. It took her close to an hour to read that letter (which turned out to be from Fred and George) and by the time she was finished she was feeling more than a little ambivalent over what she'd just learned about what was going on back home (the twins had given her an extremely detailed account of everything that had happened since the night she left).

She spent another few minutes thinking about what she'd learned from the twins before she reached in and randomly grabbed one of the bundles of letters; which happened to be from Ginny. She read through four of her letters before she tossed the rest of the stack aside as the girl had just ranted and raved how selfish Azalea was for abandoning her and how she'd gotten Ginny into all kinds of trouble with her mum. Those letters hurt because Ginny was her first ever friend that was a girl and Azalea had thought that the two of them had been close friends, sisters even.

The next bundle was from Ron and Azalea didn't even make it through the first two before she was feeling heartsick as he once again accused her of seeking glory and fame in addition to calling her a cheat even though they'd never been a couple. It was her fourth year all over again and Azalea didn't know if she could ever forgive Ron this time. Horatio's letters weren't much better as he'd taken a scolding tone in all three of the ones she'd read. The pair of letters she read from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley cut even deeper as they'd been something of parental figures for her for several years now and for them to lay into her like that had hurt; especially when Mrs. Weasley had basically called her an irresponsible child.

She didn't bother opening any more as she sat at the table staring at the scattered letters spread over the table without seeing them. She'd known they'd be upset with her, that they wouldn't exactly be happy with her choices, and that they would most likely lecture her a bit but she'd thought they'd at least pretend to understand. She didn't think they'd treat her decision to get the training she so desperately needed to survive as some sort of temper tantrum she was throwing. It hurt to know that they'd had so little faith in her; that they'd think so little of her and her motives.

Something irreparable broke inside of Azalea in that moment.

From the moment Azalea first entered the wizarding world at age eleven, she'd been building bonds with those individuals that she met. Some bonds were positive, some were neutral, and several were negative; but they were all things that tied her to the society into which she'd been born. Those bonds, while stronger than any of the bonds she'd made within the muggle world, were not indestructible and some of them had been stressed repeatedly through the years.

In some ways, those bonds were just as restricting as the bindings that had been placed on her core and they were part of what had been holding her back during her training. Those bonds had been Azalea's only reason for clinging so tightly to a way of life she'd desperately longed to be part of and with so many of the positive ones broken beyond repair there was no longer anything left to stop her from leaving that life behind. Oh, she still had a prophecy to fulfill but the prophecy did not bind her to the wizarding world; it simply bound her fate to that of Voldemort's.

And she still held bonds of friendship with at least two people (Fred and George) but those weren't enough to hold her any longer and those bonds were far more flexible than the ones that had bound her to Ron, Horatio, Ginny, and the adult Weasleys. If not for the new bonds she'd forged over the course of the Hunter's Exam (Kurapika's in particular), it is possible that the breaking of so many of those old bonds might have shattered the witch completely.

As it was, their loss left her floundering and feeling completely and utterly worthless.

Azalea slowly closed her eyes, propped her elbows on the table, tucked her chin against her chest, and fisted her fingers in her hair as she struggled to remember how to breathe through the pain she was feeling. A pain that went beyond mere physical pain as the hurtful words of those she'd seen as friends and family had cut straight through her bonds to pierce her soul far more effectively than Killua's fingers had torn through dragon-hide, flesh, and bone to pierce her heart. As much as it hurt though, Azalea had no tears to cry for the loss; she'd long feared that the others would never forgive her for running like she had, no matter that she'd only done it to grow stronger and to protect them from herself (and from her enemies) until she could fulfill the prophecy.

She was still sitting there in a fog of emotional pain several hours later when Kurapika came to let her know that supper was ready. Azalea never noticed the blond ducking into the tent nor did she hear him calling her name. It wasn't until she felt a hand falling on her shoulder that Azalea realized she wasn't alone. Azalea tilted her head imperceptively to the side to indicate that she was aware she wasn't alone without bothering to open her eyes, drop her hands, or say a single word.

"What's with the messes all over the tent, kitten? Are you still stressing about your lack of progress in separating your magic into Nen auras?"

Azalea gave the slightest shake of her head as she let out a single, short laugh that was half sob. She then untangled her left hand from her hair and randomly selected one of the letters that were scattered on the table in front of her. She lifted the innocent looking piece of parchment and dangled it so that it hung just in front of her face as she opened dull green eyes that were empty of all emotion. After a moment, she read the letter out loud in a voice that sounded as dead as her eyes looked.

_Azalea,_

_I can't believe you. I thought you learned your lesson after what happened to Sirius.  
Do you have any idea how stupid it was of you to leave the Dursleys? Just what were  
you thinking? You need to go home right now before someone else dies saving you  
from another one of your foolish stunts._

_Horatio_

Azalea flung that letter over her shoulder and selected another random letter that she read out loud next.

_Harriet Azalea,_

_Of all the foolish and irresponsible things you've done through the years; this is by  
far the worst. After everything we've done to keep you safe, you foolishly run off the  
first chance you get and put everyone's lives in danger with your selfishness. It is  
past time for you to grow up and start acting like the young lady you are supposed to  
be instead of the two year old you are acting like. _

_I fully expect you to come home right now young lady._

_Mrs. Weasley_

That letter flew off in a different direction than the previous one as Azalea reached for the next letter.

_Azalea,_

_You are such a selfish slag; do you have any idea how many times mum has yelled at me  
because you took off? I've always known you were selfish but this just takes the cake; I'm  
always getting in trouble because of you. Some friend you turned out to be._

_Ginny_

Azalea crushed that letter and threw it across the room with a casual flick of her wrist before she collected another off the table.

_Harriet,_

_Child, I know you must be more than a little confused right now and feeling guilty about  
the terrible mistakes you made at the end of the year but running away isn't the answer.  
You have adults that are willing to look out for you now and you need to let us handle  
things while you worry about school; you are still just a child. _

_Just come home, dear; the longer you run, the harder things will get for you._

_Mr. Weasley_

She tossed that one to the side and grabbed another but before she could pick it up, Kurapika's hand dropped down over hers and prevented her from lifting the letter from the table. Azalea didn't bother struggling nor did she say anything further as she simply sat there staring at nothing.

"Where did all the letters and boxes come from, Zalea?" Kurapika asked as he glanced at the scattered letters that remained on the table, the thick bundles that were still in the box, and the various boxes that were stacked willy-nilly on the table.

"Hedwig."

"Hedwig… are you saying that this is everything that was in the package she delivered over two months ago? Why did you wait all this time to open it? Are all of the letters…? Do they all…? Zalea, you do know that they're wrong, don't you? You can't take their words at face value; they were probably angry and worried when they wrote them and the next time you talk to them, I bet they'll apologize…"

"It doesn't matter."

"Zalea…?"

Azalea shook her head and she dropped her right hand to scatter the rest of the letters (both read and unread) with a wide sweep of her arm before she collapsed backwards against the chair, dropped her head over the backrest, and closed her eyes. The intangible pain she'd been feeling soon faded to icy numbness and Azalea wondered if she'd ever be warm again.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. There's nothing to be said. I just… I had thought I had found a place where I belonged but I guess I always knew I didn't truly fit in there. It hurt to learn that they have no faith in me; worse than what it felt like when Killua tried to rip my heart out through my chest. I suppose that it's partly my own fault for never telling them about the prophecy. I just didn't think it fair to burden them."

"Prophecy…? What prophecy? What are you talking about, Zalea?"

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark the child as his equal, but the child will have power the Dark Lord knows not… And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…_" Azalea intoned in the same dead voice she'd used when reading from the letters just minutes earlier; no longer caring who heard the words that had sealed her fate before she'd even been born.

"That's what you were talking about when you said you had no choice, why you said you've had a target on your back from the day you were born, and why you said you had what amounted to a death sentence over your head," Kurapika stated as he leaned against the table and stared at Azalea with no little amount of shock. The blond then jerked upright as his eyes gained a slight scarlet tint to them as he whispered, "_Either must die at the hand of the other…_ We all saw Killua kill you that day. I watched you as you bled to death and choked on your own blood while the doctors frantically tried to save you. The only reason that you didn't stay dead was because the Dark Lord the prophecy refers to wasn't the one who killed you."

"Correct. Did you know my godfather greeted me right after I died? He was there waiting for me, to stop me from staying there; he even told me that I didn't belong in the afterlife before he threw me out."

A short silence fell between them until Kurapika gently asked, "Do you have any clues as to what the 'power he knows not' might refer to?"

"Professor Dumbledore is convinced that the power that will defeat the Dark Lord is love. If that's the case, then the entire world is buggered because I don't know what love is. How could I possibly understand, let alone use, something that I've never experienced? I've been told my parents loved me, and I suppose they must have since they died to protect me, but the only memories I have of them are of their deaths."

"I watched my aunt and uncle shower love on my cousin as I grew up but their idea of love sickens and repulses me. Watching other families didn't help me to understand what love was; it just made me feel like I was always standing on the outside looking in. Even if I had even the smallest idea of what love might be; how am I supposed to use that against a powerful wizard that is at least fifty years older than me!? What am I supposed to do; walk up and snog him to death!?"

"Kissing you is the nearest I've ever been to heaven, kitten," Kurapika weakly teased.

Azalea jerked her head up to stare at the blond with wide eyes before she shook her head and snorted as a small smile tugged at her lips. She then snickered a bit as she countered with, "Maybe I should just describe what it's like to kiss you and he'll die of envy over never having found his own pushy blond."

"What do you think the 'power' is supposed to be if you don't believe it is love?" Kurapika asked after they both shared a small laugh; their shared moment of amusement easing some of the tension that had filled the room since Azalea had read the first letter aloud.

"I'm not certain; but I do have a few of ideas. One possibility is that it could be one of the Potter Family Abilities; of which there are three. The first ability is that of a dual inner nature; all Potters have two animals that represent who they are – the first one represents their inner child and the second one represents their soul. The second ability is the Potter Luck; no matter how desperate or dire a situation seems, a Potter can almost always find an advantage to use that will give them the upper hand at the last second – this ability has been known to fail on occasion though. The last ability is the only one I know nothing about; I was never able to find any information on what it was called or what it could do."

"The next possibility has to do with my mother's family but I know even less about them than I do about my father's family. Up until my second interview with Chairman Netero after the Fourth Phase, I was told that my mother was a muggleborn witch; meaning that she was born to two non-magical parents," Azalea explained as she twisted in her chair and summoned her Hunter's Portfolio from the mess in the living room with a snap of her wrist. She caught it mid-air, opened it up to pull out her great-grandfather's photo and license, and passed both items to Kurapika. "My great-grandfather was a wizard by the name of Gregory Evans and he was a Hunter; he was also friends with Chairman Netero until his death in forty-three."

"Chairman Netero told me that he recognized me because of my eyes; something about magic, blood, and only an Evans having eyes this color green. Beyond that, I know nothing about my great-grandfather's magical heritage. Chairman Netero told me a few stories while I was still in the infirmary but he never spoke of anything outside of what my great-grandfather was like when he was my age. I learned that I share my grandfather's quick and explosive temper though; something that Chairman Netero was rather quick to point out."

"The last possibility that might be the 'power the Dark Lord knows not' is Nen; which is why I've been so frustrated with my lack of progress on separating my magic into six distinct auras. I feel like I'm missing something important and there is no one I can ask because there aren't any magical Hunters out there aside from me; my great-grandfather was the last known magical Hunter and he's been dead for over fifty years."

"The only other thing it could have been was my wand. It was the brother wand to Voldemort's; meaning that they shared a similar core from the same source and that made them rather special as brother wands aren't able to fully work against each other. I have no idea why that is though as I've never really studied wand lore. There's no point in researching that avenue now anyway since that wand was burnt to a crisp over two months ago."

"What about that trick where you slide between two points with a flash of gold in less than a second? You used it when you blocked Killua's attack and again when you caught Mizuken's Nen bullet. Then there's the way your eyes glitter with gold sometimes when you're using your magic or when you're angry."

Azalea gave the blond a blank look before she intelligently asked, "Huh-what?"

"You moved more than twenty feet almost instantly and the only indication that you'd done anything was the brief flash of gold you left behind."

"Huh; that's weird. I never noticed."

"You never noticed that you jumped across the room in the blink of an eye?"

"Well, Killua and Gon are both pretty fast so I never thought anything of it. You're also far faster than I am."

"You reached Bodoro an instant before Killua did that day; you were faster than Killua and you never noticed it?"

"Nope, never noticed; I was too focused on stopping him. It could have been apparation but I can't be sure because I never officially learned how to apparate since I'm not yet seventeen. I wouldn't rule out accidental magic though since I was rather desperate both times you said you noticed me using it. The gold flash might have something to do with the color of my aura since it's different than yours and Mizuken's and maybe I used it unconsciously at the time."

"Okay, I can see that… but what about your eyes? I first noticed it when you faced that woman inside of the Trick Tower; towards the end of your match your eyes were glittering with gold dust that swirled like dust motes through a beam of sunlight. The amount of gold in your eyes varies for some reason and there were a handful of times when it appeared as if your irises were solid gold as they glowed with an inner light. That's been especially true when you lose your temper."

"I never knew they did that. I know nothing like that ever happened when I used my wand while I was still in school since someone would have said something to me about it at some point if my eyes had turned gold."

"How could you not know?"

"I don't typically stand in front of a mirror and cast spells and whatever it is that happens doesn't affect my vision. Do you always know when your eyes turn scarlet?"

"Yes, my vision is washed in red and I usually lose track of everything but my rage; including my reason at time."

"Do they only turn red when you are angry?" Azalea asked with tentative curiosity, her earlier distress and depression fading as her mind latched firmly onto the change of topic. "I know there have been times when they seemed to have just a slight reddish tinge to them but I don't recall you being angry those times."

"No, any intense emotion can turn them scarlet; the stronger the emotion the brighter the color, though some emotions do not affect them at all. Why do you ask?"

Azalea blushed a bit as she recalled exactly why she asked that particular question before she cleared her throat and mumbled, "Just curious."

"Are you sure that's wise, kitten?" Kurapika retorted as he arched an eyebrow. "You do know that curiosity killed the cat, right?"

"I've still got at least five of my nine lives left," Azalea replied as the left side of her mouth curled upwards just the slightest bit.

"Don't you mean eight?"

"No… as much as I might wish otherwise, I've come close to death a number of times and I only counted those where I was as good as dead instead of those where I just came close to being dead."

"I'm tempted to ask but I think I'm better off not knowing."

"You can ask if you really want to; I may leave out some details and gloss over others but after all you've done for me, I wouldn't feel right to deny you an answer entirely."

"Is that why you spoke of the prophecy?"

"Not exactly; that was more my mouth engaging before my brain could censor it and I was not exactly in my right mind earlier. At the time I just couldn't really bring myself to care about anything."

"I noticed and I must say that I much prefer it when you are in one of your playful moods as opposed to when you are drowning in the depths of despair. Why don't we change the subject again…? I'd much prefer to know what exactly it was that you were curious about when you were asking about my eyes."

"You would?"

"Very much so; I'm curious, you see."

"Um… curious about what, exactly?"

"Well… to start with, I'm curious as to why you blushed such a pretty shade of red when I asked you why you were asking me about my eyes."

Azalea sighed as another blush crept up the back of her neck and she glanced away before quietly admitting, "I was curious because your eyes are entrancing when they are scarlet but I never want to see them filled with cold fear or grief again and while the flames of your rage are beautiful, I'd rather not invoke your anger just to see your eyes burning with scarlet flames. It wouldn't be fair to you and I really don't want you angry with me."

"You are so adorable when you get all flustered, kitten."

"It's so not fair that you're practically impossible to fluster in return," Azalea countered with a pout as she snuck a glance at the blond.

"Someone sounds like she's had her tail tweaked."

Azalea laughed and shook her head as she pushed herself up out of the chair and glanced around at the messes she'd made earlier. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of cleaning it all up manually before she pursed her lips and cast a wandless Pack Spell. Even though it was overpowered, the spell worked rather well because of how much stuff was spread around the room and Azalea gave a little satisfied half-smile as she watched everything make its way back into her book bag. The only things that remained untouched were the letters and packages spread out over the table.

"I have got to get me one of those," Kurapika muttered as he watched everything pile itself into Azalea's book bag.

"I'd charm your messenger bag for you myself but I'd need a wand to cast the necessary spells because they are beyond my current level of proficiency in wandless casting. I can probably get you one though; I just don't know if the security spells would work for you. Nor do I know how soon I could get it and I'd undoubtedly get in trouble with the Ministry of Magic for giving it to you but as they say… in for a penny, in for a pound; and I've already broken the law just for using my magic in front of you and telling you about the wizarding world."

"What would happen if the Ministry of Magic knew you were breaking the law?"

"They'd erase every single memory you have of me before sending you on your way and then they'd snap my non-existent wand, expel me from Hogwarts, and undoubtedly throw me into Azkaban. They tried it once before and that was because I'd used magic in front of my cousin in order to save her life and mine and that was despite the fact that she was already aware of the wizarding world because she's a blood relative,."

"They can erase you from my life…?" Kurapika demanded as his eyes became tinged with red. "They could steal all of my memories of you? Even the ones that had nothing to do with magic?"

"Yes; they'd wipe them all in order to make certain that they didn't leave behind a single clue and since I'm the one that told you everything they'd use me as the identifying mark for the spell because any interaction we had could carry one of said clues."

"Unacceptable!" Kurapika yelled unexpectedly as his eyes burned scarlet and he lost control of his temper. "I will not allow anyone to steal away a single one of the precious memories of our time together! I will not allow them to make me forget you. Nor will I allow them to harm you because of anything you shared with me."

Azalea couldn't have looked away from Kurapika's eyes even if she wanted to (and she by no means wanted to) and she felt her heart rate quicken in response to the scarlet fire dancing within the blond's eyes. That part of the rage was on her behalf over the mere possibility that she could suffer repercussions because she'd chosen to trust Kurapika was a rather heady concept. So was the idea that their time together meant as much to the blond as it did to Azalea.

"The chances of them actually discovering what I've done are very small since they'd have had to see us interacting with their own eyes or heard about it directly from me," Azalea stated as she continued to hold Kurapika's gaze. "Aside from the dead Snake Charmer, there have been no other wizards present and given the Nen Abilities we've been learning about, Bourbon might not have even been a wizard anyway; so there has been no one who knows the laws I am bound by who has seen us and I have no plans to speak of you to those I know I can't trust. There's also the fact that they'd have to go through me before I allowed them to get within casting distance of you."

"Just so long as you understand that if anyone threatens to harm you, actually manages to harm you, helps someone to harm you, or they attempt to make me forget even a single second of the time we've spent together; I will kill them."

There was no time to reply as Kurapika grabbed hold of Azalea's shirt and pulled her forward to crush his lips against hers. It was a possessive and demanding kiss that stole Azalea's breath away even as it excited her. Eyes half lidded so that she could still watch Kurapika's burning eyes, Azalea submitted willingly and curled her fingers into Kurapika's tabard in order to maintain her balance. After another minute, the eighteen year old pulled back and reached up with his free hand to cup Azalea's face before he leaned forward to kiss Azalea again; this time coaxing and encouraging Azalea to take control.

Azalea hesitated briefly as an endless stream of accusations streamed through her mind as she recalled each word of the handful of letters she'd read. Doubts filled her as she questioned her decisions until the memory of scarlet fire burned through her insecurities and washed away the remains of the broken bonds that had been shattered with words written in anger and haste. Reservations gone, Azalea took what she was being offered and then demanded more as she gave herself over completely to the kiss.

In that moment, Azalea stopped being a witch bound by the laws of an archaic society and became a Hunter bound only by the limitation she put on herself.

Instinct drove Azalea as she gave into the feelings that Kurapika stirred in her and her magic swirled around both of them as she completely let go of her inhibitions. Her hands slid up so she could wind her arms around Kurapika's neck before letting her fingers bury themselves in his blond hair. At the same time she felt the hand on her face slide around to cup the back of her neck while Kurapika's other hand released her shirt and slid around to rest on the small of her back as the older teen pulled her closer.

Kurapika moaned and Azalea growled softly in triumph as she felt the older teen tremble in her arms. There was something powerful in knowing that she could do to Kurapika what the blond did to her; in knowing that she wasn't the only one affected by their kisses. Several minutes later, Azalea pulled back just enough for the kiss to turn tender which allowed them both a moment to catch their breath. When Kurapika broke the kiss shortly after that, Azalea let out a small whine of protest that ended in a softly hummed purr as Kurapika's fingers massaged the back of her head.

"Are you feeling any better now, kitten?" Kurapika asked softly a few minutes later as he propped his chin on Azalea's head and Azalea hummed an affirmative as she leaned into the taller teen.

* * *

**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	21. Auras x and x Elves

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One: Auras x and x Elves

Azalea stretched languidly beneath the covers before she snuggled back against Kurapika's side; enjoying the warmth and security of the older teen's presence. A small part of her wondered why she felt so comfortable beside the teen when they hadn't really known one another that long while another part of her wondered what she'd do when it was time for the two of them to part ways. Thinking of the day she'd have to say good bye to the blond had Azalea turning her thoughts to just how much time she had left.

They'd arrived at Dolle Harbor on the thirtieth of December and the First Phase of the Exam had officially started on the first of January. The Final Phase of the Exam (and Azalea's brief death) had taken place on January sixteenth and Hisoka had attacked her almost a week and a half later on the twenty-fifth of January. The two of them had then become Mizuken's students on the sixth of February, with Azalea not officially meeting the man until the seventh. After roughly six weeks of training, it was now the twenty-third of March and that left Azalea with just over four months before she would need to head back to England and the war.

Sighing softly over how fast the time had been passing, Azalea let her thoughts return to her attempts to separate her magic into six separate auras as she absently drummed the fingers of her right hand Kurapika's chest. She knew that part of the problem was that she didn't truly know what a single aura felt like; oh she knew what it felt like when someone used their aura on her but that wasn't the same as actually knowing what it felt like to have nothing but that single aura. Another part of the problem was the fear that she'd lose her magic entirely if she broke it down in separate auras.

"What has you in such a pensive mood so early in the morning, kitten?" Kurapika inquired as he reached up to capture the hand that had been tapping out a rhythm of annoyance on his chest through the blankets that separated their bodies.

"I was getting frustrated because I only have four more months until I need to return to England and I still haven't found a way to separate the various auras out from my magic. Part of the problem is that I don't really know what it feels like to only have one aura; I've lived with my magic all my life, even if I've only known about it for around six years. I know what it feels like to have someone's aura come into contact with me but that isn't the same as knowing what that aura feels like to that person."

"You said that was only one part of the problem…"

"Yeah, another part is that I'm afraid I will lose my magic if I separate it into six auras. I realize that technically those six auras will always be my magic because they are what make up my magic but breaking my magic apart like that might change the way my magic works. It is my magic that makes me a witch and the thought of not being a witch any more frightened me because I feared what my friends would think. And while I'm no longer as frightened by the prospect of no longer being a witch, I still fear losing my magic. I know it sounds kind of silly but I can't help it."

"I don't think you're being silly for fearing what changing your magic might mean for you. I also think that there's no real need to worry about never getting your magic back since if you can learn to separate your magic into individual auras, then you should theoretically be able to forge them back into your magic since you are intimately aware of what your magic feels like. As you said, your magic has been part of you all of your life and you know exactly what it feels like. It will just take a bit of practice before you can switch freely between the two."

"When you put it that way, it makes me feel even sillier for being afraid in the first place, Kura," Azalea groused as she poked Kurapika in the side several times with her free hand.

"I'm happy to be of service, kitten," Kurapika laughed in response as he squirmed away from Azalea's fingers before he captured that hand as well and tugged her up so that the witch was laying half on his chest. "Now… what else do you think is stopping you from breaking down your magic?"

"Hmm, it is possible that part of the problem is the fact that I still don't have complete control over my magic. I've regained some control over the last six weeks but I still have a long ways to go. It would be much easier to bring my magic fully under control if I had a wand but there's also a chance that having a wand would make separating out the different auras even more difficult than it already is because using a wand reduces the flexibility of the user's magic in order to reproduce the same effect each time the user casts the same spell. Wandless magic, on the other hand, requires adaptability and willpower in order to consistently produce the same results each time you cast the same spell."

"Anything else…?"

"No, I don't think so."

"So, to summarize the problem; you have a lack of control which you are slowly regaining, a fear of losing part of yourself that we just partially dealt with, and the inability to relate to a single aura. Does that sound about right?"

"Yes."

"Sounds to me like we just need to figure out some way for you to have a chance to familiarize yourself with another person's aura enough for you to determine the differences been a single aura and your combined auras. I'm sure you could ask Mizuken for help…"

"No, he already said he couldn't help me. And I don't think I really trust him enough for him to able to help me," Azalea countered before she pushed herself up so she could meet Kurapika's gaze with determined emeralds. "I trust you though and you have far better control of your Ren than I do."

"What does that have to do with…?"

"You could use your Ren on me when we train and I could let your aura wash over me without using Ten so that I can feel the difference between your aura and mine."

"No, absolutely not; I could end up seriously hurting you!"

"No, you wouldn't."

"Zalea, if I made even a single mistake you could end up crippled for life, if it didn't kill you outright."

"My magic would protect me if I was ever in any true danger and we could start small," Azalea stated as she negligently waved her hand in dismissal. "You could use Ten while you're holding me and if that doesn't help then you can slowly start using Ren until your aura surrounds me."

"I really don't think that's a good idea."

"It's really no different than me trusting you not to seriously hurt me during our training sessions or when we're alone at night when you could easily put me in the same position that Hisoka had me in."

"Fine but I have one condition."

"What's that?"

"If I'm going to expose you to my aura so you can familiarize yourself with it, then you are going to do the same to me so that I can familiarize myself with your aura."

"I don't have enough control…"

"Then you damn well better work on it because the matter is not negotiable," Kurapika interrupted as he scowled up at Azalea. "Besides, knowing how your aura… how your magic feels could help me identify other magicals and allow me to better protect myself against them. And I trust you not to hurt me."

"Fine," Azalea huffed as she realized the blond had a made a good point.

"Good, one last thing, kitten; if you get hurt just once, I will stop the training."

"Just so long as you know the same applies if you get hurt by my magic."

"Fair enough. When did you want to start?"

"Can we start now?"

"I suppose now is fine," Kurapika reluctantly agreed with a soft sigh. "I'm not going to expose you to my aura for more than a minute the first time."

"That's fine," Azalea replied as she settled herself more comfortably on top of Kurapika's chest; letting her cheek rest over the blond's heart after she'd slipped free of the covers so that they wouldn't be in her way.

Kurapika grumbled about stubborn brats under his breath as he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Azalea while he concentrated on shrouding himself in his aura. Azalea unconsciously jerked and let out a sharp hiss as she felt the soothing warmth of Kurapika's body heat turn to burning fire in an instant as the blond used Ten; the older teen's arms preventing her from escaping completely. Azalea grit her teeth and forced herself to ignore the tingling of her nerve ends as she focused on what Kurapika's aura felt like instead of the uncomfortable heat. After a minute had passed, the heat vanished and Azalea was left panting as she collapsed onto the blond and shivered over how cold she felt now.

"Are you alright, Zalea?"

"Yeah, I just wasn't prepared for the heat," Azalea replied as she closed her eyes. "I'd actually forgotten how much it burned when Mizuken opened my aura nodes that day. Can you do it again and hold the shroud for five minutes this time? I'd almost managed to completely ignore the heat enough to actually feel what your aura felt like underneath the heat when you stopped."

"I will… but first it's your turn to use Ten."

"But…"

"Not negotiable."

"Fine. Brace yourself."

Azalea waited until Kurapika announced that he was ready before she called up her magic and let it slip out to form a shroud around her. Beneath her, Kurapika shivered the moment Azalea's magic brushed against him and his arms tightened briefly around her. After counting silently to sixty in her mind, Azalea pulled her magic back into her core and sat up a bit so she could make certain that Kurapika was alright.

"Kura…?"

"I'm fine, kitten; just feeling a little bereft."

"Huh?"

"Your aura felt nothing like Mizuken's aura felt when he'd awakened me. There was no feeling of burning heat invading me… just a cool heaviness that enveloped me. I felt the same thing last night when we'd kissed after our discussion about the prophecy; only this time it wasn't as intense."

"It was cold? That almost makes no sense… why would my aura be cold?"

"It wasn't exactly cold," Kurapika corrected as he loosened his arms enough to run one hand up and down Azalea's back over top of her shirt. "It was like stepping out of a hot shower into a steam filled bathroom on a warm day; you feel chilled because of the slight drop in temperature but once you adjust to the change you feel comfortable once more."

"What does your aura feel like when you wrap it around you in a shroud?" Azalea asked curiously as she relaxed against Kurapika and tried not to let the teen's hand distract her as it continued to stroke her back.

"Like a thick mist as it clings to my skin; only warm."

"Mist…? And you said my aura felt heavy? I wonder… Can you…?"

"Yes, but I'm only going to hold it for two minutes this time; not five. I'm not going to risk hurting you."

"I'll be fine if you hold it for five full minutes, it didn't actually hurt; it was just uncomfortable."

"Zalea…"

"I'm not made of glass, Kura."

"You are a stubborn little brat and I'm beginning to believe that you are made of pure contrariness."

Azalea laughed as she pushed herself up enough to gaze down at Kurapika's face before she boldly stole a kiss from the older teen. The witch soon forgot all about getting the older teen to expose her to his aura again for a full five minutes as she got lost in the kisses they shared. The next thing she knew, Kurapika was kicking her out of bed and ordering her to get started on her morning exercises with him joining her a minute later. Once they'd finished with that, the two of them headed out to the kitchen for breakfast.

"What did you want to do with all of this junk?" Kurapika inquired as he waved his hand at the untouched boxes and letters scattered about the table and floor.

"Anything that is not from the twins can go back in the box; I'm going to send it all back. I'll keep what the twins sent me though; they were the only ones that didn't condemn me for leaving to train."

"Are you sure you want to do that, Zalea?"

"Absolutely; I'm done bending over backwards to please others."

"You're not even going to read the rest of the letters?"

"Nope, I will read nothing that is not from Fred or George. I don't need or want to know how many more times they can cut me to the quick and try to guilt trip me into believing that I was in the wrong for wanting to find a way to survive the damn prophecy. Nor will I let their guilt and empty apologies sucker me back into trusting them again when they will inevitably break my trust the next time I do something they don't like or get something they can't have."

"So long as you are certain; I would not want you to have any regrets later."

"I'm certain," Azalea replied as she carefully sorted through the boxes as she put anything that didn't have Fred and George's names or their Triple W logo on the outside back into the box everything had come in.

The only exceptions were her sixth year Hogwarts letter, her O.W.L. results from the Ministry, the box of newspaper articles, and a plain wrapped box with a letter attached to it that had her name written on it in a familiar and much despised scrawl. Snape may have been a git of the highest order but he'd at least never once changed how he'd treated Azalea. Azalea could therefore see what the man had to say to her before deciding on whether or not she'd keep the package the man had sent. Once everything was packed up, Azalea set the box off to one side so she could make a light breakfast for herself and Kurapika.

"We have an hour before we go for our run," Kurapika stated after the meal. "Are you going to meditate like you usually do or are you going go through everything you left out?"

"I'm going to go through this stuff first," Azalea answered as she picked up the package and letter from Snape and casually broke the seal on the parchment. "Starting with seeing why Snivellus felt the need to go out of his way to write me a letter and send me a package. Would you like me to read his letter out loud so you can hear what the caustic man has to say?"

"It's up to you."

Azalea nodded, unfolded the short piece of parchment, and cleared her throat before reading…

_Miss Potter,_

_Congratulations, your level of arrogance has finally surpassed that of your father's but I  
find that I am not surprised; I fully expected you to pull something like this eventually.  
You have also managed to drive the Dark Lord's anger to new heights and I find myself  
lamenting your abysmal skills in Occlumency now that the Headmaster foolishly entrusted  
you with the knowledge of the prophecy that the Dark Lord still actively seeks. _

_Knowing that your skill in potions is nearly as hopeless as your level of common sense, I  
have sent with this letter a well stocked Professional Healer's Kit and a couple of potions  
that will save your life when you inevitably screw up yet again. _

_I have also sent you the sixth year potions text since you somehow managed to cheat on  
your tests to receive an Outstanding O.W.L. in Potions. I suggest you read the book and  
study the potions in it if you intend to take Potions once you return from your foolish lark  
because I will be testing you extensively and I will be much more difficult to please than  
the senile examiner that administered your O.W.L. test._

_Professor Snape_

"You weren't kidding when you called him caustic," Kurapika murmured as he scowled at the letter in Azalea's hand.

"Actually, that was almost nice," Azalea countered as she stared down at the letter in shock. "He almost complimented me there a time or two. He also sent me a rather expensive gift that is not only practical but one that could mean the difference between life and death. That was on top of acknowledging my right to take his class and making certain I am fully prepared to continue my studies when I return. He also warned me that Voldemort is angry and looking to use our connection to influence me again; though it's odd that he hasn't done so since the end of the Hunter Exam."

"If you say so," Kurapika countered skeptically. "And what connection are you speaking about?"

"The cursed scar on my forehead has some kind of connection to the Dark Lord because that's where he supposedly tried to kill me when I was a baby. Whenever he is near me, my scar hurts and since he regained a body he's been able to send me visions, influence my nightmares, and when he feels a strong emotion I can usually feel it as well. When that happens, my scar starts to hurt, turns an angry red and the skin around it swells, and when it is particularly bad the scar itself splits open. It's not bothered me once since… well since just before the final task, I think."

"I pretty much forgot all about that scar since it has nearly faded completely away," Kurapika mused as he leaned closer to inspect Azalea's forehead.

"Faded away…?" Azalea echoed as she reached up to run a finger across her scar. "Weird. It's never done that before."

"Seeing that scar split open and bleed was creepy. I much prefer it to stay invisible. Anyway, it's almost time for our run? Are you going to open the packages you left out now or did you want to start early today?"

"You won't hear me complaining about the scar not being quite so visible and I'll look the rest of the stuff after lunch. I do have one other thing I need to take care of before we go for our run though."

"What's that?"

"You'll see; just try not to scream when they show up and if one of them insults you, just ignore him."

"Uh… what?"

Azalea smirked as she turned away from the confused blond and addressed the air beside her, "Dobby! Kreacher!"

Two loud pops one right after the other heralded the arrival of the two house elves and Azalea snickered when Kurapika jumped in his chair before leaning forward to intently observe the two beings.

"The great Missus Harriet Potter is finally calling her Dobby!" the elf with the large green eyes and mismatched attire greeted as he threw himself on Azalea.

"Nasty little mudblood spawn calls for Kreacher… oh how mistress would wail to know Kreacher is forced to serve the impure wench thanks to the no good traitorous master's cruelty… and poor Kreacher is forced to appear in front of nasty little magicless vermin too."

"Enough, Kreacher!" Azalea roared as she surged up out of her chair; displacing a now wide-eyed Dobby. "I hereby order you to never again insult Sirius; I will not tolerate you speaking ill of my godfather whether I can hear you or not. I also order you to stop insulting muggles and muggleborns. Do you understand!?"

"Kreacher understands, ungrateful mistress."

"You are to address me as James or Master James when you speak to me outside of the wizarding world, Kreacher," Azalea ordered as she dropped wearily back into her chair and scowled at the rather nasty tempered elf. "For now, go stand with your nose in the corner until I call you; I need to speak with Dobby."

"Zalea…?"

"I'll explain in a bit, Kurapika," Azalea answered as she glanced at the now frowning blond before she turned her attention back to the now nervous Dobby. "Hi, Dobby, I'm sorry I ignored you while I dealt with Kreacher. Fred and George said you were looking for me but they never said why."

"Missus Harriet Potter went off without saying goodbye to her Dobby. Dobby couldn't find his Missus Harriet Potter and Dobby does not know what to do if Missus Harriet Potter isn't at Hogwarts."

"Please call me James when I'm not around other magicals, Dobby; the people I deal with now don't know that I'm a girl or a witch," Azalea requested as she digested Dobby's short speech. "And I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye to you before I left. I had a lot of things to do and didn't have much time to say goodbye to anyone before my ship set sail. Why would it matter if I was at Hogwarts or not though?"

"Dobby is supposed to be taking care of his Missus Har… of James sir and Dobby can't take care of Missus Har… James sir if she is not in Hogwarts where Dobby can find her."

"Take care of me…? I thought Dumbledore hired you to work at the castle with the other elves?"

"Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore was hiring Dobby to work in the kitchen and clean the common rooms but Dobby is only working at Hogwarts to stay close to his Missus Har… James sir."

"Why though? I mean, you're a friend and I like seeing you but why do you need to stay close to me?"

"Dobby not wanting Missus Harriet Potter to be mad at Dobby."

"I promise I won't get mad; I just want to understand."

"Dobby is forming partial bond with Missus Harriet Po… with James sir when James sir is freeing Dobby from nasty family and Dobby is needing to watch over James sir and help her keep her secrets. Dobby wanted a proper bond with Missus Har… James sir but James sir is so happy that Dobby is free that Dobby not want to make James sir sad."

"But… but don't you want to be a free elf?"

"No. Dobby only wanted to be free from nasty family. Dobby asks for paying from other families because Dobby only wants one family but no work means no magic and no food for Dobby. So Dobby had to find work close to Missus… James sir so Dobby could work and watch over James sir."

"What family was it you wanted to work for, Dobby? Did they not want you?"

"Dobby wants to be Potter elf but James sir wants Dobby be free elf. House elves need to belong to a family to use their magic. Dobby sneak partial bond with Missus… James sir but partial bond does not help if Dobby not near James sir."

"Why didn't you just tell me? I wanted you to be happy and I thought being free made you happy."

"Does that mean James sir will let Dobby bond with James sir properly?" Dobby half asked and half demanded before he glared at Kreacher's back where the other elf was still standing with his nose in the corner as instructed. "Dobby will be a proper good elf for Missus… for James sir; not like the nasty Kreacher."

"Is that what you really want, Dobby?"

"Oh yes," Dobby replied enthusiastically as he bobbed his head up and down rapidly, making his ears flop comically.

"Then I guess it is alright for you to form the bond," Azalea replied after giving the matter a moment's consideration; the sixteen year old for once not caring what Horatio might have thought if he'd known she was 'enslaving' Dobby.

The little elf threw himself at Azalea once more and hugged her for all he was worth and Azalea felt a small tug on her magic that she suspected was the elf initiating the full bond. She smiled fondly down at the elf and hugged him in return before she sat back up so she could introduce Dobby to Kurapika.

"Now that that's settled, I'd like to introduce you to someone, Dobby; Kurapika here is a very close friend of mine. Kura, this is Dobby; he's an old friend of mine."

"It is nice to meet you, Dobby," Kurapika greeted with a smile as the elf glanced over to the blond.

"Dobby is happy to meet Master James sir's new friend," Dobby replied as he smiled at Kurapika in return; the elf referring to Azalea as Master James without fail now because of her earlier request for her identity and gender to remain a secret when she was not in the wizarding world became an order in his mind the moment the bond took hold of his magic.

"You don't have to call me master, Dobby."

"Dobby wants to call Master James sir master and Master James sir said he wants his Dobby to be happy."

"You can't argue with logic like that, kitten," Kurapika laughingly pointed out.

"No one asked the peanut gallery," Azalea grumbled in reply. "Anyway, Dobby, could you do me a couple of favors while I deal with Kreacher?"

"Master James sir doesn't have to ask. Dobby is happy to follow Master James sir's orders."

"Ah, tonight I'm going to need you to help me better understand how the bond between house elf and witch works so I don't make any mistakes," Azalea sighed before she shook her head and returned her attention to Dobby. "In the mean time, please take the box that is sitting on the counter and deliver it to Fred and George Weasley; if they ask why I am sending a bunch of stuff back unopened, tell them to read the open letters. After that, please pick me up some more owl treats for Hedwig as I'm almost out; you have my permission to take the money out of my vaults at Gringotts to pay for them. You can then have the rest of the day to take care of anything you need to do and I will call you when I am finished with my training so we can talk."

"Dobby will take care of everything, Master James sir," Dobby enthusiastically replied before he grabbed the indicated box and popped away.

"Interesting fellow," Kurapika stated as he stared at the place Dobby was last standing for several seconds.

"Remind me to tell you about how I first met him later. Right now, I have to deal with Kreacher and then we can go for our run. Kreacher, come here please."

"Master James calls for Kreacher."

"Yes; you are to return to Grimmauld Place and start cleaning the house properly. You are to stop causing trouble for the members of the Order of the Phoenix that are using the house but you have my permission to ignore their orders if they contradict my orders. You are to make certain that Dumbledore's people do not throw away, destroy, or steal anything from the house; if you have to, lock all of the valuables up in the attic or in one of the unused rooms. I also want you to spy on any meetings they hold in the house and report to me when the meeting is over."

"Additionally, you are to always answer me truthfully when I ask you a question or when you are reporting what you learn during those meetings. The final order I'm going to give you tonight is to never, under any circumstances, approach or speak to anyone that bears the Dark Mark or serves the Dark Lord. You are also to never share any of my secrets with anyone that is in any way associated with the Dark Lord or his Death Eaters nor are you to share my secrets or my whereabouts with anyone associated with Dumbledore. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Kreacher understands."

"Good. I will call you if I need anything from you or if I need to give you new orders."

Kreacher bowed and left without another word and Azalea grimaced as she'd much rather have ordered the elf to drop dead after the part the stupid elf had played in Sirius's death. Only the fact that she now knew that Sirius had been dying already helped her to set aside her anger and deal with the elf fairly; after all, she was no Malfoy and she'd never order an elf to harm itself for any reason.

"What exactly were those creatures and why did they call you master?" Kurapika inquired as the two of them ducked out of the tent to start their morning run now that Azalea had finished dealing with both elves.

"They are called house elves and they consider themselves servants of sorts as they live to cook and clean for the family that they are bound to. Most elves think it is a terrible thing to be set free… actually, it appears that all elves think it is a bad thing to be free since Dobby just bonded himself to me of his own free will. If you want to know more about house elves, then you can listen in tonight when I talk to Dobby since I don't really know all that much about them. As for why they called me master, Dobby just bonded himself to me and I inherited Kreacher from my godfather after he died."

"I think I'll take you up on that offer; it sounds like it will be an interesting conversation."

"Or one big headache," Azalea countered with a soft laugh as they trotted side by side through the forest. "All of the house elves I met to date are more than a little crazy and Kreacher is an example of just how nasty they can be if they put their mind to it and he was actually pretty tame this time."

"You don't really like him much, do you?"

"He's partially responsible for my godfather's death and I know part of it has to do with the way my godfather treated him and the beliefs of my godfather's mother, who was the elf's mistress prior to her death, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept. He's also a rather foul mouthed little elf that will insult almost any one alive if given half a chance. I'd set Kreacher free so he could find a family he'd be happier with but he knows far too much that could give Voldemort an advantage; which is why I gave him the orders I did."

"Ah, I'd have been tempted to kill him if I was in your shoes."

"I was tempted on more than one occasion but it is far more of a punishment to allow him to live since he has no choice but to serve me; a halfblood witch from a notoriously light-sided family – though I suppose the halfblooded part is no longer true. The Black family, on the other hand, is a family of pureblooded bigots that has long been considered as dark as their name; my godfather one of the few exceptions. In fact, Sirius's parents had unofficially disowned him when he was sixteen because he didn't follow the family philosophy and refused to serve the Dark Lord."

"What exactly constitutes a light or dark wizard or witch?"

"Dark wizards and witches are those individuals that torture, maim, and kill in their quest for personal gain while light wizards and witches are those that fight against the dark wizards and witches; though that doesn't mean they are all saints. Most of the wizarding population actually falls into the third category of neutral or gray wizards and witches; who are those magicals that don't want anything to do with the dark wizards and witches but aren't brave enough to fight alongside of the light wizards witches. At least that is what we are taught at Hogwarts."

"That would make you a light witch, correct?"

"I suppose, though I think I've started to consider myself as a Hunter first and a witch second."

"Nothing wrong with that as far as I can tell, kitten."

"I know at least a dozen people back in England that would disagree with you."

"Bah, they're not important."

"I never said they were."

"Less talking, more training!" Mizuken ordered as the two of them trotted back into camp at that precise moment.

Azalea and Kurapika turned to one another and grinned as they rolled their eyes simultaneously even as they complied with the order. Azalea's good mood stayed with her all through the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon; her frustration only returning during her Nen practice when she still hadn't managed to separate her magic into six auras. She cheered up again after supper when she discovered that Dobby had made her an extra large treacle tart for desert; a treat she'd not had since the End of Term Feast at the end of her disastrous fifth year – and she hadn't been able to enjoy it at the time due to Sirius's death.

The rest of the night passed rather pleasantly as she listened to Kurapika thoroughly interrogate Dobby about house elves while the two teens took turns feeding each other bites of treacle tart as they cuddled on the couch. Azalea had asked a few questions about the bond that Dobby had formed with her before letting Kurapika take over the questioning; letting Dobby know in passing that Kurapika could be considered family (which meant that Dobby was obligated to follow the blond's orders and answer his questions so long as the orders didn't go against Azalea's orders and the questions weren't prying into Azalea's secrets).

It was a rather informative discussion for the two teens as they learned quite a bit about the wizarding society as a whole in addition to what they learned about house elves.

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**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	22. Progress x and x Pranks

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Twenty-Two: Progress x and x Pranks

Dobby's constant presence from his day of bonding forward turned out to be something of a godsend as the elf took over all cooking and cleaning duties after he was introduced to Mizuken the very next morning. That gave Azalea more time for training and saw her new diet being consistently followed after Kurapika had given instructions to the eager-to-please elf. Dobby could also easily replenish their supplies which meant that they didn't have to halt their training just to go into town to buy food or other necessities any longer.

Quite a bit of the worry that Azalea had had about what was happening back in England was put to rest too as the elf acted as an instant messenger between Azalea and the twins (the witch unwilling to risk Hedwig's life a second time by owling them again).

The rest of March would pass by fairly quickly in a blur of training for the two teens.

In addition to familiarizing themselves with each other's auras, Azalea's physical training was taken to the next level as Kurapika taught her the basic aikido stances. She also started carving the oak branch to form her bokken now that she'd improved enough to convince Kurapika that she knew what she was doing. Kurapika, on the other hand, was instructed to familiarize himself with chains (his chosen conjuration) and learned that his aura changed to that of a Specialist when his eyes turned scarlet (his new ability allowing him to use all types of Nen while his eyes were scarlet).

That was on also on top of their regular Nen training, Azalea's wandless casting practice, the research that Azalea had started on the animagus transformation, and reading through the potions text that Snape had given her (a book that used to belong to someone that called himself the Halfblood Prince).

A short break in their training occurred on the fourth of April at Azalea's demand; the witch had wished to celebrate Kurapika's eighteenth birthday (and the official demise of his childhood according to Azalea). Mizuken left the two of them to their own devices as the man headed into town to for the day to gather information and give Chairman Netero an update on the two teens' progress. Dobby was given the day off as well when Azalea sent the elf to pester the twins and make certain that Kreacher was behaving himself.

The first thing Azalea had done was to fly Kurapika to a rather remote lake in the area where the two of them spent the morning exploring the lake shore and playing in the water. A picnic lunch (packed by Dobby the night before) complete with a small cake was eaten on a small rocky outcrop in the center of the lake. The two of them then flew back to camp where Azalea gifted Kurapika with a medium blue messenger bag with bronze trim and woven with an undetectable Extension Charm, an Impervius Charm, an Indestructible Charm, a Featherweight Charm, and an anti-theft charm (Dobby had purchased the bag at Azalea's request a few days earlier).

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring their physical relationship as they progressed from simple kissing to light petting above the waist with Azalea unbinding her breasts for Kurapika for the first time (the night of Hisoka's attack not counting in either of their minds). And while she didn't remove her undershirt (the young witch far too self conscious about her underdeveloped body), she did not stop Kurapika when he slid his hands beneath her shirt to cup her petite breasts with calloused palms while she straddled his stomach. That night would also mark the first of many nights that the two of them slept beneath the same covers as Azalea shyly invited Kurapika to join her when they turned in for the night.

Two days after Kurapika's birthday, Azalea would split her magic into six distinct auras for the first time. She'd been sitting in the center of camp meditating while practicing Ten after taking a single sip of _Felix Felicis_ (also known as the luck potion and one of the rare potions that Snape had gifted her with) at the time and her thoughts had wandered off track as she mentally compared the differences she'd noticed between the way her aura felt in comparison to Kurapika's aura. The most notable difference between the two was the density; Azalea's magic was heavier and thicker while his aura was lighter and thinner. It was like comparing water to honey or sap. Then there was the difference in temperature; a single aura felt hot (like boiling steam) whereas her magic merely felt warm (like a hot bath).

Following on the heels of that thought, Azalea for some reason found herself thinking about the processes of distilling and filtering essences to remove impurities or excess water; something she'd read the night before out of her potions text. For the briefest of moments, she wondered if it would be possible to filter and distill her magic to separate the auras from each other. That led her to wondering what she'd use as a filter and how she'd get her magic hot enough to 'boil' so that it passed through the filter.

'_My core holds the unfiltered magic, my blood carries the magic (my aura) to the surface, my skin acts as a barrier or maybe a filter, and the ability to use Ten would be the catch basin,_' Azalea mused as she considered the matter. '_So, if I could apply heat to my core to make my magic boil, my magic would leave my core and travel through my blood in a mesh of auras that could be filtered through my skin and collected into the different groups the moment they leave my body by using Ten._'

She experimented with the concept the moment she thought about it and for a split second, her magic split into six distinct auras; causing her normal aura to turn silvery white as it spiked sharply before returning to gold. Azalea had noticed the instant her aura had split; she'd felt her magic shatter around her and she'd instantly lost her concentration because the feeling was so alien. Kurapika and Mizuken had both immediately noticed the change as well as the tension in the air had spiked sharply at the same time as Azalea's aura had spiked.

She'd dropped out of her meditative state with a sharp cry of confusion and curled in on herself as she scrubbed at her arms and face to get rid of the strange feeling. Once she'd calmed down a bit and thought about what she'd felt, she realized her latest idea had actually worked and then she was up and dancing about the clearing while crowing happily. Kurapika laughed at her and Mizuken was looking rather smug but Azalea didn't care; she'd finally made a bit of progress after nearly a month of frustration and failure.

All of her other training for the day was put on hold as Mizuken had her practice breaking her magic apart again and again until she could maintain the separation for a full five seconds. It would actually take her three days before she could hold magic in a separated state for a full second, let alone five seconds, as it had taken her quite a bit of time to feel comfortable with the feeling of breaking her magic apart. Azalea threw herself into her training with renewed vigor over the minor success and pushed herself harder than before as she strove to make up for the time she'd lost while she'd been stuck.

Her progress would rapidly advance in leaps and bounds from that point forward as her control over her wandless magic improved right alongside her ability to separate her magic into auras (the process of splitting her magic into auras and maintaining the split taking considerable control to accomplish). Her improved physical health played a fairly large part in her progress as well; her growing stamina and strength meant she didn't tire out quite so quickly. It was her speed and flexibility that had improved the most though as she didn't really have the build to become a powerhouse.

By the end of April, Azalea would be able to maintain the separation of auras for up to ten minutes and Mizuken deemed her ready to start the next phase of her Nen training; to bring forth a single aura while holding the other five auras back. The concept sounded far more difficult than separating her magic into the individual auras but it was actually easier because she only had to pull one aura out at a time and maintain it instead of attempting to maintain six at once. The hard part was being able to identify the differences between the types of individual auras so that she could pull up a specific aura on command.

In order to help her find any variations in the feel of the individual auras, Azalea would pull forth one aura and use water divination to identify the type of aura she was projecting. She'd then spend an hour or two submersed in that aura as she carried on with her other training exercises while she sought to identify every aspect of the aura and commit the smallest of nuances of each aura to memory. It would take her until the middle of May before she could successfully identify a specific aura and call it forth from her magic consistently.

Azalea finished making her bokken about the same time. Both wooden swords looked much like Kurapika's bokken though hers were slightly shorter than his swords. She'd also chosen to stain the blades of both swords crimson and the hilts gold as a small tribute to her Gryffindor heritage.

Throughout the rest of May, Azalea walked around with a wide assortment of bruises as she learned how to use the wooden swords properly; most of them from her own clumsiness as she hit herself with her own swords. The blood, sweat, and tears that Kurapika had promised her she'd experience during her training were finally brought to bear during that time as she was finally well and truly out of the danger zone when it came to her health; her body stronger than ever now thanks to the weeks of training Kurapika had put her through on top of her new diet.

On the thirty-first of May, Azalea was given a day off of training as Mizuken was going to concentrate on helping Kurapika with his conjured chains now that the blond had reached the point where he could form the first link of the chains using his aura. It was the perfect opportunity for the witch to slip off into the forest to practice her animagus transformation; something she'd not actually told Mizuken or Kurapika she'd been working on, since she wanted to surprise the blond with her form. She didn't go too very far from the camp; just far enough that she wouldn't be stumbled upon unexpectedly.

She then spent all morning meditating and communing with the kitten that represented her inner child as she'd chosen to focus on the small cat first, rather than the more powerful tiger. Unlike her father and godfather, who'd both been very dependent upon their wands when they learned how to transform, Azalea hadn't needed years of practice in order to reach the point where she was ready to transform; all she needed was complete control of her magic.

Her Nen training had actually helped speed the process along as she'd learned far more about her magic in the past three months than she'd learned through five years of schooling; therefore allowing her a greater degree of control once she'd tamed the wildness that had plagued her core since the bindings had been removed. Training herself how to cast spells wandlessly over the past eleven months had been a big help as well.

Just as the sun reached its zenith, Azalea wrapped her magic around her and embraced the kitten which in turn had her embracing her inner child and her body began shrinking around her. When the transformation was over, a mostly white calico cat with messy patches of rusty red and pitch black sat in the middle of the forest in Azalea's place. Azalea let out a rumbling purr of pride as she flexed her front paws to run her sharp claws through the dirt, leaves, and grass beneath her feet.

It would take her several hours to get used to her new feline senses. The plethora of scents she could smell and taste in the air were astounding; some of them far worse than any potion ingredient she'd had the displeasure of cutting up while others were heady and intoxicating. The cacophony of sounds that assaulted her ears was disorienting, on the other hand, as the sounds seemed to come at her from all directions at ten times the volume that had reached her human ears. And the feel of even the slightest breeze teasing her fur and whiskers was both irritating (because it tickled) and exhilarating (because the slight tugging on her fur almost reminded her of flying).

After she'd adjusted to her enhanced senses, she spent the rest of the afternoon getting used to walking on four feet and learning how to control her tail and ears; those muscles unfamiliar to the witch. She was in seventh heaven the entire time as she gamboled between the trees chasing leaves, bugs, scents, and sunbeams; the witch allowing her inner child to take complete control as she gave into the urge to simply play. Once she felt comfortable in her form, she headed back towards the camp so she could show off her new trick to Kurapika (and prank him for good measure to in order to get him back for teasing her who knew how many times).

She reached the camp just as the sun finished setting and she paused at the edge of the forest as she watched Kurapika drop to his knees in exhaustion; the older teen had worked hard all day to form a single foot long length of chain. Lifting her nose, the witch turned cat caught the scent of blood, sweat, and tears drifting on the air and she knew that the blond had pushed himself even harder than he pushed her and it made her heart ache with grief and swell with pride at the same time; something that completely confused her.

Shaking away her conflicting emotions, Azalea rose gracefully to her feet once more as she boldly slipped into camp and began stalking her prey when her ears caught Mizuken's voice announcing that Kurapika was finished with his training for the day. The moment that she was within pouncing range, Azalea dropped into a low crouch as her tail lashed wildly in anticipation. Her ears flicked back and forth several times as she listened to Mizuken puttering about the camp before she let her hind quarters rise up while her entire body began wriggling and her eyes glittered green and gold as she prepared to attack.

Seconds later, she threw herself forward with a mighty lunge and landed right on Kurapika's unprotected stomach like a rock before spring boarding off in the next instant as the teen yelped in surprise. Azalea sneezed three times in a row in feline laughter as she darted behind a clump of tall grass and rolled vigorously back and forth in the dirt in satisfaction and amusement. She then rolled back up onto her feet and shook out her coat before she snuck a peek around the edge of her hiding spot and noticed that Kurapika's back was currently facing her while Mizuken was sitting off to one side laughing at the blond who was currently searching for his attacker.

Seeing her chance, Azalea crept forward slowly so as not to disturb the grass before she dashed forward and climbed up Kurapika's back to nip at his ear before she darted down his chest to escape his hands as he yelped again. This time she didn't go far before she spun around, arched her back, and hopped sideways as she stared at the scowling blond with glittering eyes full of mirth. After she had sneezed out another feline laugh, Azalea sat down and rubbed her nose with a paw before she calmly draped her tail around her front feet and stared Kurapika in the eye.

She ended up losing the staring contest when Kurapika cheated; he'd pulled free a long blade of grass and began dragging it slowly back and forth in front of his legs and she'd been unable to resist following the blade of grass with her eyes. She dropped down into a crouch and crept forward as her eyes swept right and left with each circuit of the grass. The moment she memorized the grass tip's path, she wriggled like a fish on a hook before she pounced on the blade of grass.

When it escaped her still somewhat clumsy paws, she darted after it without any hesitation and before she knew it she was running round and round Kurapika as he dragged the grass around him and passed it from hand to hand. It wasn't until she heard Kurapika laughing at her antics that she realized what she was doing and she skidded to a halt and glared at him before she dashed away. She couldn't believe she'd allowed her feline instincts to completely take her over like that and it was more than a little embarrassing.

Azalea stopped her mad dash near the camp fire, calmly sat down with her back pointedly facing the older teen, and proceeded to groom her paws and face as if the whole thing never happened. She flicked her right ear in Kurapika's direction when she heard him laugh again and then turned to lick her shoulder while glaring at him through half lidded eyes. She then remembered the first time he'd called her kitten and how he'd teased her about her purring and snuggling with him and her promise to use him as a scratching post in return.

Rising back up onto her feet, Azalea stretched out her muscles before sauntering slowly towards the teen who was something more than a friend but not exactly her boyfriend and not yet her lover (though she freely admitted to herself that that was what she wanted him to be). She stopped just out of reach of his hands and sat back down as she stared up into his eyes once more. He tried to tempt her with the grass blade again but she ignored it this time as she focused on her goal. The moment he gave up trying to get her to play and broke eye contact with her, she got up to walk closer and brushed her chin against his knee.

The instant he tried to pet her, she danced back out of his reach and sat back down. She repeated that game for close to twenty minutes before he gave up trying to pet her and once he did, she climbed up into his lap. Azalea then head butted him in the stomach before curling up on his right thigh. The moment she felt his hand draw near to her in yet another attempt to pet her; she unsheathed her claws and pricked his leg. She heard Mizuken laughing again while Kurapika muttered out an apology and dropped his hand and Azalea began purring smugly as she flexed her claws a couple of times before retracting them.

Eventually, she forgot about paying him back for all of his teasing as she grew drowsy and snuggled up closer to him as she closed her eyes and purred louder. This time, when he reached up to pet her, she allowed it and soon lost herself to the mind numbing pleasure of having her back and tail stroked while fingers gently scratched her behind her ears. It felt heavenly and her human mind couldn't help but mentally blush over the fact that she was enjoying feeling his hands running all over her body while her feline mind simply basked in the attention she was being given.

It wasn't until she felt hands wrapping around her to pick her up that Azalea snapped out of the daze she was in and dug her claws into Kurapika's leg in order to prevent him from displacing her from his lap. She felt a bit guilty when she heard him hiss in response to her claws hitting a particularly tender spot on his inner thigh but she refused to let go. The moment he let go of her, she relaxed her claws once more as she sat up to stare up at him.

"You're a cute and adorably sadistic little cat, I'll give you that, but I can't just sit here with you all night long. Besides, I already have a kitten and she's more than enough of a handful for me to keep track of," Kurapika stated with a sigh as he reached out to tap Azalea on her pink and white nose.

Azalea scrunched up her nose in response to the touch as she sat up and captured his hand with both paws while trying to fight the need to sneeze. The sneeze escaped a moment later and she soon found herself being held in midair as Kurapika had used the distraction to lift her from his lap. Azalea growled and flattened her ears back due to the uncomfortable position and the teen was quick to set her down on the ground. Narrowing her eyes as she watched him stand up; Azalea considered her options before she climbed up his leg and back to perch on his left shoulder.

"Hss… You're a stubborn little demon aren't you?"

Azalea purred smugly as Kurapika twisted his head to awkwardly glance at her. Mizuken snorted again from where he was lounging by the fire watching the two of them and Azalea wondered briefly if the man knew the cat was her before she dismissed the older Hunter as she nearly fell off Kurapika's shoulder when he started walking. Her claws dug into his collarbone as she gave off a plaintive mewl of agitation until Kurapika stopped moving and reached up to pull her from his shoulder.

She instinctively fought him until she realized that he was just moving her down to cradle her in the crook of his arm and she stopped fighting and started purring as she made herself comfortable against his chest. He carried her into the tent at that point and Azalea soon found herself unceremoniously dropped onto the middle of the kitchen table and she let out a loud yowl of complaint as she slipped and nearly smacked her chin on the table. She then made a beeline for the edge of the table with the intent of dropping down so she could change back only for her to get distracted by a bowl of milk being set down right in front of her.

Now, Azalea had always liked milk but it was not her favorite drink in the world; yet the moment the creamy scent wafting from the bowl hit her feline nose, she began salivating. She dove right into the bowl without any hesitation; going so far as to place both paws right in the middle of the dish as she greedily lapped up the milk with her little tongue, all the while purring like a motor boat.

"Someone was just a little hungry, I see," Kurapika laughed as he reached out and ran a finger down Azalea's spine a couple of times before leaving the room. "Maybe a full stomach will improve your disposition."

The witch turned cat just purred louder as she continued to guzzle the milk; not really paying attention to a word that the blond was saying. Far too soon, Azalea's tongue was scraping against the bowl as she sought to capture every single last drop. She then allowed her recently awakened feline instincts to take over as she began the tedious job of cleaning the milk from her paws and face.

She was feeling rather drowsy by the time she finished; her rather small tummy was pleasantly full and she was starting to grow tired from the long afternoon spent adjusting to her cat form and playing around with Kurapika earlier. She had also far exceeded her time limit on how long it was recommended to maintain the transformation the first time but Azalea didn't feel any of the discomfort that she'd been led to expect. Stretching languidly, Azalea decided that it was high time she reverted back to her human form.

Wanting to see the look on Kurapika's face the instant he realized that it had been her all along, Azalea the cat slipped down off the table and went searching for the blond. She nearly got stepped on when the teen in question strode out of the bedroom carrying his magical messenger bag wearing a worried frown as he strode towards the door. Azalea meowed loudly to grab Kurapika's attention and then sneezed in amusement when the older teen jumped, tripped over his own feet, and landed on his butt as he tried not to step on Azalea.

Azalea jumped up onto Kurapika's knee and sneezed again before she closed her eyes and purred. When she felt Kurapika's hands wrap around her in order to lift her off of him, Azalea automatically extended her claws in order to prevent the blond from displacing her yet again. She felt another flash of guilt when Kurapika winced and let out a hiss of pain as Azalea's sharp claws dug through the fabric into flesh. She mewled rather pitifully in apology the moment the hands released her and then Azalea sat up on her hind legs and transformed back to herself right on Kurapika's lap.

"Sorry, Kura; I can't completely control my instincts yet," Azalea apologized as she straddled the blond who was now gaping at her like a fish.

"But… but… _Zalea!?_ That was… you were… and you intentionally…"

"I did warn you once that I'd use you as a scratching post."

"You are an evil little demon cat! You intentionally clawed me; several times."

"Yeah, well, I took offense to you taking advantage of my feline nature and making me chase that piece of grass around you until I was practically dizzy while you sat there and laughed at me."

"You dive bombed me from out of nowhere and then climbed up my back as if it was a tree."

"At least I didn't attack your hair while you were laying down; it was mighty tempting, I might add, due to the way the strands were fluttering in the wind."

"I'm half tempted to start calling you demon cat instead of kitten. All joking aside; why didn't you turn back sooner? I was starting to get worried that something had happened to you."

"I fully planned on turning myself back the moment you dropped me on the table but then you went and stuck a bowl of milk under my nose and I got sidetracked."

"And the reason you didn't turn back while we were still outside; before you sank your claws into me?" Kurapika growled as he rolled them over and pinned Azalea to the floor.

"I didn't want Mizuken to see me transform and I was having fun annoying you; though I did feel bad when my claws would dig in deeper than I planned, I'm not very good at controlling them fully and a few times it was purely my feline instincts driving me," Azalea replied unashamedly before she transformed back into her cat form and slipped out from beneath Kurapika before changing back.

"So, what you are basically saying is that you were intentionally pranking me?" Kurapika asked casually as he climbed to his feet and dusted off his pants.

"Pranking is such a strong word…"

"Really? And just what word would you use to describe attacking me while disguised as a cat?"

"Hmm… training…?"

Azalea had only a split second's warning before Kurapika lunged towards her and she let out a short yelp as she dove to the side before scampering out of the hallway into the living room of the tent where there was more room. She then laughed as she sensed Kurapika give chase; her inner child cheering happily as the two of them played cat and mouse about the living room. Each time the blond was close to catching her; Azalea would slip free at the last second using her animagus form. Eventually, Azalea allowed herself to be caught when her long day finally caught up with her.

Kurapika tickled her mercilessly until she was gasping for breath and begging for him to stop. He then swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom where he set her back on her feet and gave her a little push towards the bathroom as he told her to go take a shower because she smelled like she'd been rolling around in the dirt (which she had while in her cat form). Azalea stuck her tongue out at him but complied since she could feel dried sweat, dirt, and a few cat hairs clinging to her skin from the hours spent in her alternate form.

She didn't take a very long shower, spending just enough time beneath the water to wash away the dirt and wash her hair before she rinsed off, gave the shower a quick clean, and turned off the water. Azalea then dried herself and reached for a clean change of clothes (which she'd started keeping in the bathroom to avoid embarrassments like when she'd started her period near the end of the Fourth Phase and had been caught without her things) only to pause. After a moment's debate she slid on a clean pair of underwear before snagging one of Kurapika's longer shirts and slipping it on.

The button up white shirt dropped down to about mid-thigh on her and she blushed at her rather provocative reflection in the mirror. She then turned away from the mirror and left the bathroom before she changed her mind. Her choice in sleepwear caught Kurapika completely off guard when he looked up and Azalea blushed again as she fought against the sudden urge she had to run and hide in the bathroom once more. The appreciative glance the blond gave her once he got over his shock at seeing her dressed in so little made her forget all about how embarrassed she was and set the butterflies in her stomach to fluttering as it made her feel as if for the first time that she, herself, was truly desirable (rather than her fame or fortune).

The searing kiss he gave her on his way to take a shower left her feeling rather hot and bothered as she slid beneath the sheets with a silly grin on her face. Her long day caught up to her again at that point and she soon drifted off into a light sleep curled around her extra pillow while she waited for Kurapika to join her. Azalea woke up just long enough to ditch her pillow in favor of curling up against Kurapika when he crawled into bed beside her before she fell asleep once more as she let out a sleepy humming purr that drew a soft laugh from the eighteen year old.

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**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	23. Pleasure x and x Practicality

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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**CHAPTER WARNING:**

_This chapter contains hints and references to activities of a sexual nature (but no actual intercourse) though I did not go into great detail. If you are uncomfortable reading scenes of that nature, you can skip down to the line break though you will also miss the story information contained in the first section outside of the references to adult activities. Because of that, I have left a note at the bottom of the chapter summarizing what you might have missed. _

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Chapter Twenty-Three: Pleasure x and x Practicality

Three hours later, Azalea found herself wide awake and feeling far more refreshed than she should have considering how tired she'd been earlier. She took a moment to stretch out her sleep cramped muscles before she sat up a bit to study the sleeping blond beside her. He looked so peaceful as he slept and Azalea couldn't help but think about all the times she'd watched him train himself into the ground as he pushed himself harder with each little bit of progress he made. She wished she could help him as much as he had helped her but not only did she not know how she could help him, she suspected that getting him to accept the help would be like pulling teeth from a hungry alligator.

Sighing softly, Azalea let her eyes wander a bit over his bare chest and shoulders and felt a flash of guilt when she saw the claw marks she'd given him while in her cat form. She reached up with her right hand and let her fingers trace over the still angry red marks marring his left collarbone, only to start in surprise when his hand captured hers. Azalea glanced at Kurapika's face and found herself caught up in chocolate eyes.

"What are you doing awake, kitten?"

"No clue."

"You didn't have another nightmare did you?"

"No."

"Hmm… and the reason you were tickling me?"

"I wasn't trying to tickle you," Azalea explained as she sat up a bit higher as she pulled her hand free so that she could take his hand in hers as she tapped one of the deeper scratches on the back of his hand. "I was actually feeling a bit guilty about the scratches I gave you."

She then brought his hand up to her mouth and pressed feather light kisses to each of the angry red scratches she'd give him. Once she had finished with that hand, she traded it for his other hand and continued offering the apologetic little kisses until Kurapika huskily asked, "Are you intending to kiss all of the claw marks you gave me, Zalea?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Only if you want to."

Azalea's response was to shift around so she could straddle his stomach before she leaned down to press feather light kisses along the scratches she'd left on his neck. The claw marks were soon driven right out of her mind when Kurapika moaned in response to her lips on his neck as he slid his hands up her bare thighs to cup her scantily clad bum. Azalea became intimately aware of just how little she wearing in that moment as the heat of his bare skin against her bare legs as she straddled his torso finally registered.

She trembled and let out a soft moan of her own as she kissed her way up the side of his neck and over his jaw until she finally reached his lips. Kurapika soon slid his hands higher beneath the shirt she was wearing to caress her bare back as he took charge of the kiss she'd initiated. Azalea ran her hands over Kurapika's chest before sliding them up to thread her fingers through his hair as the heat of desire pooled between her legs.

Calloused hands slipped around to cup her breasts and Azalea moaned a second time as she broke their kiss to sit up as she arched her back; pressing her chest against Kurapika's hands as he massaged her breasts. A soft whimper of complaint crossed Azalea's lips when his hands were withdrawn from beneath her borrowed shirt but the loss was soon forgotten when his fingers began tugging at the buttons of the shirt she wore. Less than a minute later, her breasts and the scars from her temporary death were bared to Kurapika for the first time (neither of them really counted that first time after Hisoka's attack).

Nervous emerald eyes flew open to glance down at Kurapika's face in trepidation (Azalea afraid that she would see disappointment in his eyes when he finally saw just how small her breasts looked or worse disgust for the rather ugly scars) only for her breath to catch in her throat when she found herself gazing into passion filled scarlet eyes for the first time. Without breaking eye contact with her, Kurapika once again cupped both breasts.

The next hour saw Kurapika worshiping every inch of Azalea's exposed flesh with his eyes, hands, and mouth. His tender ministrations made the young witch feel beautiful in a way mere words never could. He made her feel alive and loved. And she reveled in his touches and kisses. There was no fear and no flashbacks to be had when Kurapika touched her woman's core for the first time; his touch was gentle and exploratory. And the pleasurable desire that those touches invoked was heady and addicting. It did not take long for the pleasure of his touches to rise up and crash over her in a wave of ecstasy that stole her breath away.

As soon as he felt her climax for the first time, Kurapika pulled her close and captured her mouth in a tender kiss in that moment and she clung to him as her body continued to tremble even as the waves slowly receded. Several minutes later, her head was pillowed on Kurapika's chest once more while he ran one hand up and down her back as she caught her breath.

"Are you going to be alright, kitten?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you? Or are you just saying that because you think that's what I want to hear?"

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine."

"And are you fine with what just happened?"

"Yes."

"Zalea…"

"I am… I never would have let you touch me like that if I didn't want you to."

"And I still remember you saying you were fine after your match in the Third Phase and how you could barely walk on your own. Or how you said your hand wasn't that bad after your wand caught fire only to find that your hand had been charred black in places."

"Kura…"

"I just want to be certain that you are well and truly alright with what we just did."

"I am. I never felt so… so… it was like nothing I expected and better than I ever imagined. Your kisses make me feel on fire and when you touched me… the way you touched me… it was unbelievable and so… so amazing."

"Well, if you were trying to stroke my ego; that certainly worked."

"Prat," Azalea teasingly muttered as she sat up to lightly swat him on the arm before she sighed and snuggled back down beside him.

"Tell me, kitten, why do you always say you're fine, even when you're not?" Kurapika asked several minutes later.

"Habit."

"Habit…? How does one develop a habit for downplaying their injuries or health problems?"

"It is easier and far safer to pretend that there is nothing wrong than it is to let the world see me bleed or cry; I wear my mask to hide how weak I am because I will not give them the satisfaction of seeing me break."

"And yet you still insist that your so called family didn't abuse you," Kurapika chided lightly as he reached up and flicked Azalea in the forehead.

"I actually wasn't referring to the Dursleys; I was referring to the wizarding world as a society and to my peers within Hogwarts. From the moment I first set foot in Diagon Alley, I was faced with witches and wizards constantly watching me like some sort of an exhibit in the zoo. Surrounded by hundreds of strangers that stared at me with blind adoration, open skepticism, smug superiority, varying degrees of disgust, outright fear, undisguised jealousy, or unfettered lust."

"The last one was by far the worst and if not for the wizarding world's antiquated social values, I'm certain that I'd have been sexually assaulted by more than one of my 'adoring' fans over the years. The number of deadly and dangerous situations I ended up in during my years at Hogwarts hasn't helped matters either; if anything those things made things worse as each time I survived yet again it threw me right back in the spotlight."

"You've hinted at the dangers that you've faced during your years at that school more than once through the months I've known you and I know why you avoided discussing those incidents previously but will you please tell me about them now?"

"I told you back in March that I would answer any questions you had about my past," Azalea reminded the blond before she closed her eyes and clenched her fists as she thought about her five years at Hogwarts. She then forced herself to relax as she took several calming breaths in order to not lose control of her emotions. Once she felt she was in complete control of herself, Azalea opened her eyes to stare at Kurapika's bare chest as she began speaking softly, "In my first year, when everything was so new and I thought I'd finally found my true home…"

It took Azalea hours to share all of the adventures and misadventures that she'd experienced during the five years following her return to the wizarding world, including some of the trouble she'd gotten in during the summers; her voice rising and falling with her emotions (though she never once lost complete control). She may have glossed over a few details and downplayed the danger in a few instances but she didn't actually leave anything out. Kurapika listened intently the entire time, only occasionally interjecting a question here and there in order to get clarification on one point or another.

"…and that was when I decided to steal Dahlia's boarding pass so I could take the Hunter's Exam in her place. Only, I ended up confessing my plans to Uncle Vernon when he confronted me and my uncle actually gave me the boarding pass himself. I walked out the door and never looked back; firmly believing that I was making the only choice I could if I wanted to survive."

"I can see why you'd think that," Kurapika murmured as he pulled Azalea closer and ran his hand up and down Azalea's back once more. "I honestly can't understand why you are willing to go back there though; prophecy or no prophecy."

"The sooner I deal with the prophecy and Voldemort, the sooner I will be completely free of that world. Don't forget, both sides are more than likely actively hunting me even as we speak; the supposed light side hoping to get their hands on me and drag me back to deal with their messes because of that same prophecy and Voldemort's side just hoping to kill me off. I'll never be free as long as the prophecy remains unfulfilled."

"You may have a valid point but that doesn't stop me from wanting to steal you away and hide you someplace where they'd never find you. Or better yet, keep you with me so I can protect you from them all."

"I appreciate the sentiment but that would be impractical, Kura."

"Screw practicality; I hate the mere thought of loosing you to a world that will never appreciate you or the sacrifices you've made for them, kitten," Kurapika growled as he buried his face in Azalea's hair and tightened his hold on the witch.

"Kura…?"

"You're mine, kitten, and I told you before that I'm selfish; I dislike the idea of having to share you. I especially dislike the idea of having to share you with people who have hurt you on more than one occasion."

Somehow, the thought of Kurapika claiming her didn't inspire the sheer terror and fury that Hisoka's attempts to claim her had inspired. In fact, Azalea quite liked the idea of belonging to the older teen; of knowing that someone desired her above and beyond her title or her vaults. Closing her eyes, Azalea shivered when a wave of hot desire washed through her as her magic surged up from inside of her with an eagerness that took her breath away. Leaning forward, Azalea nipped at Kurapika's neck as she hummed a soft purring moan while letting the fingers of her right hand trail up and down Kurapika's side.

"Zalea…?"

Azalea opened her eyes, pulled back out of Kurapika's embrace, and pushed herself up so she could look Kurapika in the eye as her green eyes glittered with gold dust and shone with naked desire as she softly asked, "Is that what you want; to take me and claim me as yours?"

"Yes," Kurapika replied without any hesitation as his eyes began turning scarlet once more. "Does that frighten you?"

"No."

"Does that mean that you want me to claim you?"

"Yes."

Azalea felt a trill of satisfaction and desire race through her as those flame filled eyes captured her completely; like a deer caught in the headlights. Kurapika reached up with one hand to tangle his fingers in the hair at the back of her neck before he gently pulled her down so that he could claim her mouth in searing kiss that took Azalea's breath away as her magic slipped from her control to swirl around them both. Azalea moaned in pleasure as she melted into the kiss and pressed closer to Kurapika.

They would spend another hour exploring each other's bodies; Kurapika stripping out of his clothes after Azalea had expressed a desire to touch and kiss him the way he'd touched her. A good deal of heavy petting and mutual release would follow; though they did not take that final step and engage in actual intercourse despite the fact that they'd discussed it in a round about way. Despite her ready agreement, Kurapika was still worried of pushing Azalea too far, too fast and she'd already surprised him with how far she'd let him go that night.

After the steamy hour of exploration, Azalea would drift off to sleep wrapped up in the afterglow of her latest climax.

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Kurapika sat up and watched Azalea through a passion filled haze of red as she drifted off to sleep after he'd driven her over the edge several times in a row. He could feel her magic dancing over her skin and brushing up against his body even if he couldn't see it at the moment. After another minute, the eighteen year old moved up to lay beside Azalea and gathered her into his arms as he pulled the covers back up over them both. An amused smile tugged at his lips when the witch murmured in her sleep and snuggled closer to him like a cat before he frowned and glared up at the ceiling above the bed.

The last surviving member of the Kurta Clan couldn't ever remember a time when he'd felt so torn between duty and desire.

He wasn't quite certain when his obsession with the green eyed witch had taken hold but there was no doubt in his mind that she had well and truly captured his attention. When he'd first seen her on the ship a few days after he'd boarded the vessel, he'd actually taken her for a deck hand as she'd always been up in the crow's nest or helping the other sailors and had been certain that she was male. He'd been surprised when he'd been called up to the helm towards the end of December and found the diminutive witch joining him along with Gon and Leorio.

It was odd that she'd not introduced herself at that point but Kurapika figured she must have gotten to know the captain during the weeks or possibly months prior to him boarding the ship. Her reason for wishing to take the Hunter's Exam and the way she'd stated it at the time had touched a cord in Kurapika and he'd had the impression that her reasons weren't too far different from his own. Kurapika had then put the girl (then a boy in his mind) out of his thoughts until Gon dragged her with them once they reached Dolle Harbor. The eighteen year old had been suspicious and curious about their reluctant companion at the time and the more he learned, the more of a mystery she'd become to him.

He'd been certain she was at least four to five years older than himself right up until her owl had stolen her hat and he'd gotten a good look at her rather delicate face and vivid green eyes sitting behind those horrid black framed glasses. Then he suspected she was the same age as Gon only to learn she was just a year younger than him. Her answer to the Quiz Lady's question, the way she'd known the man Leorio had been treating wasn't human, and how she flew on her own to Zaban City had only confused him more.

The way she'd switched between aloofness and disdain once they encountered Tonpa had been odd but the way she'd feared Hisoka the moment the Rookie Crusher had named the man had confused him as she hadn't seemed to really know who the older man was previously. From the moment the First Phase had started, the contradictions surrounding her only multiplied.

The way she vanished not long into the First Phase alongside Gon and Killua after he'd seen her fall behind. How she'd been amongst the first to arrive at the starting point for the Second Phase looking as if she'd simply gone for a walk in the park instead of running for her life like everyone else. The skill with which she'd handled the second task had been surprising; especially the way she'd butchered the Great Stamp Pig as if she'd been butchering animals all her life. The calm, detached way she'd claimed to dislike cooking followed by the calm, ready acceptance of her failure hadn't fit with the determination he'd seen in her previously.

And let's not forget her nifty little bag of tricks and treats.

Kurapika wasn't the only one that had thought she'd thrown herself to her death when she'd allowed herself to fall backwards from the cliff during their second attempt at the Second Phase. He'd dashed forward and stared down in horror as he'd watched her completely ignore the webs. The hours of tag she'd played on the wind after that had been breathtaking to watch as she danced on the air currents with seeming ease. He'd wanted to approach her after that to ask her how she'd flown the way she had but she'd withdrawn back into her shell and slipped away to cook her egg alone (once she'd retrieved said egg) and then Menchi had monopolized her.

She'd then radiated an aura of tension after boarding the airship and Kurapika and Leorio both had advised Gon to give her some space because both older teens could practically feel the dark cloud circling around her. Her snapping at Tonpa after the meeting only emphasized just how much stress she'd been under and Kurapika had been both impressed and intimidated by her scathing tone and biting words. Witnessing her first encounter with Hisoka had displayed yet another side to the dainty witch; as she'd responded with lightning fast reflexes before freezing in fear like a mouse cornered by a circling hawk. There was no doubt in Kurapika's mind that she'd been shaken by the encounter.

The nightmare and the blood that had woken both him and Leorio not long after they'd bedded down had been disturbing but the weary tone of her voice had bothered him more. He'd been tempted to hunt her down more than once after she'd left but the memory of her dark laughter and the weary way she'd claimed that she would live in the face of Leorio's concern prevented him from actually going after her. He'd not seen her again until just before they arrived at the Third Phase and he'd relaxed a bit when he saw that she didn't look quite so terrible but still felt concerned because of the way she'd been picking at her food, her obvious frustration over losing whatever game she'd played, and her downplaying her collapse at the end of said game.

The Third Phase of the Exam had just been one shock right after another as she'd first confided in him, willingly listened to him without giving him pitying glances, and actually relaxed enough to allow him to peek under her mask. The real shocks hadn't started until they'd dropped down inside Trick Tower though as she swallowed her pride over having to back down, stepped forward as a leader without hesitation when the need arose, and saved Leorio's life without a second thought despite the fact that she'd exposed her gifts (which she'd been trying to hide).

She'd also gazed upon his anger without fear or condemnation (aside from that initial flinch), lost hold of her mask completely for a brief moment during her match, collapsed for seemingly no reason while her scar bled again, and then joked about not annoying Killua after they'd witnessed the younger boy quickly and effortlessly killing the attacking prisoner. The rest of that task had been a blur in Kurapika's mind as he flirted with Azalea (despite still thinking she was a boy at the time), admired her stubborn will to push on through the various obstacles despite the fact that it was easy to see that she was exhausted, and worried as he watched her health take a sharp nose-dive towards the end of that first day.

Oh how Kurapika had wanted to beat Leorio about the head when the older teen stuck his foot in his mouth the moment he'd referred to Azalea's internal torment as madness. That soft whine she'd let out had cut him to the quick and he had not hesitated to leap to her defense. In some ways, he'd also been defending himself since he knew the 'madness' that Leorio had seen in the diminutive witch was no different than the 'madness' that lurked inside of himself.

That was also about the time he'd started piecing together the clues he'd noticed about her home life.

Her obvious lack of height, her painfully underweight frame, her poor eating habits, her tendency to flinch when startled, and the way she went out of her way to avoid physical contact. There was also the way that she seemed startled when someone went out of their way to help her, how she was wary of asking for help, and how she'd unconsciously snuggled against him while she slept (as if she'd been starved for attention). That wasn't even touching on the little things she'd confessed during their discussion after she'd woken.

Oh how he'd wanted to throttle her over her refusal to see the mistreatment she received at the hands of her relatives as abuse. He still felt that way at times even now.

By the time the Third Phase had officially ended, Kurapika knew he was more than just a little interested in Azalea even though he still thought of her as James at the time. It wasn't until he'd first kissed her that he finally realized just how thoroughly he'd entangled himself though. Oh how the sweet nectar of her lips had set his blood on fire from the moment he'd stolen that first kiss. The thrill he'd felt when he'd seen just how flustered his kisses had made her had been intoxicating.

He'd then spent the next five days castigating himself over being drawn to his fellow applicant when he was supposed to be focusing on earning his Hunter's License so that he could hunt down the Phantom Troupe. He'd spent those five days reliving every second of those first kisses. He'd also feared that something had happened to her towards the end of the fourth day when he'd heard her scream and he'd rushed towards where he had believed that the sound had originated from alongside of Leorio only to find no trace of her or her attacker. The two of them would run into Hisoka not long afterwards before stumbling across a bruised and angry Gon.

Everything that had happened from the moment they'd been reunited with the witch in the Snake Charmer's cave had only complicated things further. He'd been so angry with her for putting herself at risk the way she had by running headlong into the Snake Charmer's trap. It had hurt to watch her fall to pieces because her wand had been destroyed, to hear the pain and frustration in her voice as she ranted about life's unfairness, and to discover just how badly she'd been injured. Part of him still wondered what he was thinking when he offered to train her, not that he regretted the offer or her acceptance; he just didn't know why he'd done so after he'd spent five days reminding himself that he still had to avenge his clan.

He wanted to keep her with him though, even though he knew it was selfish of him and even though he knew they both had obligations weighing on them; he still wanted to keep her close to him. To protect her and to satisfy the urges she stirred in him in the hopes that maybe her hold on him would lesson so he could continue on as he had before. And then, the moment he'd had her in his arms again, he'd lost himself once more and he was even more determined to keep her by his side. Oh how he'd reveled in the knowledge that she was completely and utterly untouched and that she'd never trembled in the arms of another the way she trembled in his arms.

Things had gone down hill after that; Hisoka spooking Azalea on the airship, her worry over her owl, her concern over Hisoka targeting Gon (and him), her brutal if temporary death at the hands of Killua, her twelve hour surgery where she'd nearly been lost again, leaving her to find Killua, and returning to find Hisoka forcing himself on her. Kurapika had been beyond pissed with himself for ever leaving her side, at Hisoka for daring to hurt her, and at the other Hunters for not protecting her. The shock of discovering that she was actually a girl had been minor in the wake of everything else and a rather pleasant one at that.

It had been years since he'd felt as impotent and as angry as he had during that first week after Hisoka's attack as he watched Azalea struggle with her demons. He'd also felt humbled that she had trusted him enough that she didn't push him away like she had everyone else. Then there was the guilt he still felt over attributing her fears that they were being followed to lingering paranoia that Hisoka would attack her again. He was still surprised that she'd never held his lack of trust in her abilities against him.

He was even more surprised that she'd been the one to initiate the current level of their physical relationship, even if she was letting him lead, she'd been the one to take that first step. He'd been exceedingly careful not to push her too fast and to give her ample opportunities to stop their activities. She hadn't. In fact, each time their relationship moved forward, it was Azalea who was taking the step. She'd regained her confidence bit by bit once she'd started training and over the past four months he'd seen her blossom out from beneath the mask she'd worn during the Exam.

Kurapika sighed as he buried his nose in her thick tresses; the eighteen year old still not quite certain when he'd allowed himself to fall in love with the young witch currently nestled in his arms. He had no idea how in the world he was going to let her walk right out of his life in two months or how he was going to protect her from those that would harm her if he wasn't there to watch over her. Kurapika also knew that he couldn't ask her to stay and he couldn't go with her; they both had a duty to fulfill.

_Heaven help me and guide me through these troubled waters for I do not think I can find my way alone,_ Kurapika prayed as he pressed his lips to her temple before he let himself sink into the arms of Morpheus.

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**AN:** _Okay, first, for those who skipped the first two-thirds of the chapter; the part you skipped over was basically a scene that further developed Kurapika and Azalea's relationship and showed their deepening bond. There was also a part where Azalea gave Kurapika a more detailed look at her past; covering a lot of things that she'd left out the first time she'd spoken about her past on the top of Trick Tower. There were few actual details repeated in the story since her history is mostly canon with a few twists and changes due to her gender. _

_The other note I'd like to make was that this chapter was originally a good 2000 words longer but because I did not wish to risk having this story being deleted in the event that someone was offended by the lemon scene I originally wrote, I edited it out to maintain the posting guidelines for this site. It wasn't any worse than a dime store romance novel and in fact far less graphic than some harlequin romances but better to be extra cautious than have to repost later. _

_So, that is why this chapter is so short when compared to others. _

_That said, I hope everyone enjoyed the promised insight into Kurapika's thoughts about his little green eyed witch and how she's ensnared him so completely. He's not forgotten his duties and his promises to his clan but he is tearing himself up inside because he is still human enough to feel outside of his need to avenge his family. I think this chapter also shows that he isn't going to abandon his desire for revenge despite how much he's grown to care for Azalea. ~ Jenn_

**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	24. Dancing x with x Death

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Twenty-Four: Dancing x with x Death

The two weeks following Azalea's successful transformation into her animagus form were busier than ever.

Her physical training took up around one third of her time as she continued to condition her body, trained with Kurapika in self defense, and exercised her animagus form in order to gain better control of her feline body. Her spell casting and Nen training took up another third as she worked to regain control of her wandless magic, sought to master her alternate animagus form, and practiced splitting her magic into auras that she then worked to better control. The final third was spent researching new spells, categorizing all of the spells she knew by which Nen Type they fell under so that she could convert the spells into Nen Abilities, studying other branches of magic (such as potions and healing).

Her nights were then spent exploring the newfound intimacy she shared with Kurapika (with a short one week break when her period showed up again). If Mizuken noticed the changes in Kurapika and Azalea's relationship, he wisely kept his observations to himself. It helped that their nighttime activities did not hinder their training. In fact, both teens had actually started working harder during their training sessions the closer they grew to one another as they both now firmly (if secretly) believed that they had something precious to protect.

Azalea's self confidence also sky rocketed during that time due to her relationship with the older blond and it showed in the way she carried herself. The biggest sign of Azalea's new self assurance was the way she no longer flinched when Mizuken stepped into her personal space when he helped her train and how she no longer grew wary if left alone with the man.

Over the course of those two weeks, Azalea progressed by leaps and bounds; most especially in using her bokken as she put in a considerable about of effort into her training. Kurapika pushed her hard during those training sessions while at the same time encouraged her to do better and Azalea gave her all in return. After it became apparent that Azalea could hold her own against Kurapika during those sessions, they started using their Nen abilities during their spars to take their training to the next level (at Mizuken's suggestion so that they could get used to fighting with their Hatsu).

It was at that point that Azalea learned she could use her bokken as a Focus for both her magic and her Nen which gave her a slight edge in their spars (though Kurapika's considerable experience made certain they remained on equal footing despite that slight advantage).

Azalea's animagus training was taken to the next step as well as she finally achieved her tiger form; a feat that had been quickly achieved due to her familiarity with the process thanks to her first form. She then worked on being able to switch between her two forms without having to revert to human form in between transformations. She actually found it fairly easy to change between the two cat forms because they were so similar in structure and after a few days practice she could seamlessly change form in mid-step or mid-leap without faltering.

She would use her new mastery over both forms to prank Mizuken (who at the time still hadn't known that Azalea was the cat that had attacked Kurapika two weeks earlier) the same night she'd mastered the switch. Azalea had crept up to the man in her cat form and mewed to catch his attention before she climbed up the man's pant leg to sit on his knee for the first time ever (to the man's shock and concern). Kurapika had been a little surprised but thought nothing of it until Mizuken let out a startled cry when Azalea changed into her tiger form the moment she reared up and set her paws on the man's chest.

Mizuken had then fallen over backwards with Azalea ending up perched on his chest and the witch had licked the man's face before smugly walking off to lean against the laughing Kurapika. Azalea waited until Mizuken had picked himself up off the ground before she switched back into her cat form, climbed up onto Kurapika's lap, and purred smugly. The two teens had shared a good laugh about the entire incident later that night as they lay entwined on their bed.

Two days after that, on Friday the thirteenth, Azalea was in the midst of her afternoon spar with Kurapika when a frantic Dobby popped up and interrupted them.

"Oh, it is terrible! Mistress Azalea Potter must hurry!" Dobby wailed as he grabbed Azalea's hand and began dragging her towards the tent. "Hogwarts is under attack! Nasty Death Eaters is harming students! Headmaster Dumbledore is not being there to saves them so Mistress Azalea Potter must save them!"

Azalea's heart rose up into the back of her throat and cut off her air supply as she stared down at the elf with wide eyes. She then snapped her head around to meet Kurapika's concerned gaze for a split second before rage over the audacity of the Death Eaters daring to attack Hogwarts filled Azalea and her magic rose up in response, turning her eyes gold.

"Go," Kurapika softly ordered in understanding. "I'll still be here when the battle is over."

Azalea nodded as she freed her hand from Dobby's grip, buttoned up her dragon-hide cloak, and ordered, "Take me to the castle, Dobby; get me as close to the actual fighting as you can without dropping us right in the middle of it."

Azalea turned for once last glimpse of Kurapika before she felt herself pulled out of the clearing and dropped into the darkened halls of Hogwarts and the sounds of battle soon washed over her as flashes of red, green, yellow, purple, and orange lit the hallway from just around the corner. Dobby whimpered and clung to Azalea for a moment (the elf more than a little wrung out over having brought her along with him through the school's wards from a considerable distance) and Azalea patted the exhausted elf on the head as she listened to a cacophony of voices call out incantations and insults.

"Once you catch your breath, I want you to go see if you can rally the house elves to protect the rest of the students in case there are more Death Eaters running through the castle, Dobby," Azalea ordered as she resettled her bokken in her hands.

The house elf gave a squeak of agreement before he popped away and Azalea took a deep breath and used Zetsu to hide her presence as she ghosted closer to the battle. Just before she reached the corner, she tapped herself on the head with her right hand bokken and cast the Disillusionment Charm over herself in order to further hide her presence. She then crouched down and leaned her head around the corner in order to determine her next course of action.

It took her but a handful of seconds to recognize several members of the Order of the Phoenix; Remus Lupin, Bill Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, and Fred and George. Professors McGonagall and Sprout in addition to Ron, Horatio, Neville, Ginny, and Luna were fighting as well. Facing off against the Order, the school staff, and the handful of students were approximately two dozen men and women in black robes and white masks. Several of the students and adults were obviously injured and the sight of blood splattered up and down the hallway only served to anger Azalea further.

Pressing her lips together, Azalea closed her eyes for a brief second to center herself before she threw herself into the fray with a cry of pure fury that startled those on both sides of the fight. The battle stopped for a full fifteen seconds and Azalea took advantage of their stupor to use her left hand bokken to cast a cutting curse that took two of the Death Eaters out of the fight as their wands were severed by the curse. Cries of outrage were heard from the remaining Death Eaters as they began firing spells at the place where Azalea's spell had originated from but Azalea was already moving.

The young Hunter didn't bother to fight any further with her magic as she wrapped herself in a ghostly shroud using her Enhancer's aura to protect herself from most of the spell fire while physically attacking the Death Eaters with her bokken; cracking them across the face and the back of the head to knock them out or across the wrists to force them to drop their wands. She'd taken down four more Death Eaters before someone managed to counter her Disillusionment Charm and she heard several people call out her last name in anger and shock as she was soon recognized due to her perpetually messy hair and heavy black-framed glasses.

Azalea ignored those that recognized her as she continued to dance through the Death Eaters and deal out damage with each swing of her bokken; her eyes glowing gold in her rage.

The tide of the battle quickly changed thanks to Azalea's presence and in less than twenty minutes, close to half of the Death Eaters had been disabled or knocked unconscious. Azalea knocked another big man across the face, cracking the man's mask and nose, and lifted her right bokken to thump the man on the skull a second time to knock him out when a red light washed over her opponent and dropped him to the ground unconscious. Looking up, Azalea found herself bracketed on either side by the Weasley twins on the edge of the fight as the Death Eaters were pushed further down the hall by those that were still capable of fighting.

"Malfoy let the scum into the castle," Fred panted out as he applied pressure to the bleeding gash on his arm.

"We'd noticed the little ferret was up to something as he kept popping up in Knockturn Alley," George continued as he cast a brief glance of concern at his brother before returning his attention to the fight.

"He'd appear on the weekends when he should have been in school."

"We warned Dumbledore and the Order and kept an eye on things but we didn't expect them to attack the castle."

"Neville caught them sneaking in just after Dumbledore left the castle earlier this evening and alerted everyone with the old DA coins."

"The ferret is after something up in the Astronomy Tower; he broke away from the rest of the filthy scum as soon as we confronted this lot," Fred stated as Azalea tore off a strip off of the redhead's ruined robes and tied it around the older teen's injured arm.

"Neville also said Malfoy had been twitchy and extra moody all year. We'll leave him to you while we help the others take out the rest of the rubbish," George finished as he clapped Azalea on the back before both twins took off to rejoin the fight.

Azalea watched them dash off down the hall before she headed for the stairs leading up into the Astronomy Tower in search of Malfoy. She arrived just in time to see Draco kill Professor Dumbledore using the Killing Curse. A sharp cry of denial was torn from Azalea's lips as she watched the man she'd once considered something of a grandfather to her (before she'd grown angry at the man during her fifth year) fall lifeless to the stones of the Tower's floor. Draco whipped around to face Azalea at the same time and Azalea saw red as the platinum blond gave her a triumphant sneer the moment he saw her standing there.

"You're too late, Scarhead; how does it feel to know you failed to protect your friends and the castle because you chose to run away like the weak little coward of a mudblood slag you are?"

Azalea didn't say anything as she flashed across the distance separating them in a brief flare of gold before she cracked Draco on the back of the head with her bokken to knock the other teen out. Azalea then collected both Draco's and Dumbledore's wands from the teen's hands, shoved them into her cloak pocket, and kicked Draco out of her way as she stumbled forward to fall down beside Dumbledore's lifeless body. Tears filled Azalea's eyes as she dropped her bokken on the ground beside her, gently pulled off Dumbledore's half moon glasses, and tucked them into her pocket with the wands before she closed his sightless blue eyes while her tears rained down on Dumbledore's long beard.

A clatter of footsteps rushing up the stairs drew Azalea's attention and she swiveled around on her heels as three Death Eaters and Snape burst out of the stairwell. The Death Eater right behind Snape was a rather lumpy looking fellow with an overlarge Adam's apple, next to him was a short, stocky person that made Azalea immediately think of Umbridge, and the last man had filthy matted hair, an equally matted beard, dark amber eyes filled with hunger, and he towered over the first two by nearly two full feet.

Azalea snarled angrily the moment she saw the feral looking man and the two white skull-like masks even as she quickly snatched up her bokken from the ground beside her and surged to her feet in preparation for yet another fight.

"Dumbledore's dead is he? Malfoy's little snot-nosed brat actually pulled it off?" the lumpy looking man giggled as his eyes fell on Dumbledore's lifeless body.

"And he even found us a tasty treat in the form of the missing Potter wench," the large man with filthy matted hair and beard rasped in a feral sounding voice as he stepped closer to Azalea. "I'm sure the Dark Lord won't mind if I play with this one a little first before we hand her over."

"Potter belongs to the Dark Lord alone, Greyback; you would do well to remember that," Snape scathingly snapped at the other man. "Touching her without our Lord's permission is tantamount to a death sentence."

"The Dark Lord won't care what we do to her so long as the girl is still alive when she gets there and he already gave me permission to dine on the flesh of any student that crosses my path tonight," Greyback countered as he took several steps closer to Azalea and reached out to grab the teen with hands that were tipped with sharpened yellow fingernails that looked more like claws.

Azalea nearly gagged as the scent of dirt, sweat, and blood clinging to the man washed over her as he drew closer to her; her enhanced senses (due to her feline forms) easily overwhelmed by the stench. The grieving witch didn't say a word in response to the short conversation between her enemies as she pointed the tip of her right hand sword at the taller man's face and cast the Blasting Curse at the man's face. The man's head shattered as the spell hit him at point blank range and the two masked Death Eaters flinched back in shock as they were covered with gore while Snape hastily shielded himself at the last second.

"Tell the cowardly scumbag that you call master that his days are numbered and to expect no mercy from me," Azalea growled before she swung her right sword across her body and hit both masked Death Eater's with a wide, overpowered Banishing Charm that threw them both against the stone wall of the tower behind them and knocked them out when their heads slammed into the wall.

"You've changed, Potter," Snape quietly stated when the teen turned towards him.

"I grew up," Azalea replied just as quietly as she lowered her blades and studied the man she'd spent five long years hating as her earlier rage was replaced with grief while her eyes returned to their natural color and magic retreated to her core.

"Dumbledore left a box for you in his office; I suggest you find a way to get it before the Ministry or the Board of Governors confiscates it along with the rest of Dumbledore's possessions."

"Why didn't you stop him?" Azalea demanded quietly as she waved a sword towards the still unconscious teen sprawled on the floor not far from Azalea.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, girl," Snape snarled as he brought his wand up.

"No, you don't," Azalea agreed as her eyes glittered green and gold once more as she calmly met Snape's gaze without fear. "Just so long as you know that I won't hesitate to kill you if it turns out that you helped the little ferret orchestrate tonight's attack in any way."

"Just as arrogant as ever, I see," Snape sneered as he summoned both of the unconscious Death Eaters and Draco's unmoving form to him and sent them away from the castle with portkeys that he pulled from his pockets.

"Call it what you like but even you can't pretend you didn't see what happened to the man laying at my feet."

Snape said nothing more as he disappeared in a swirl of magic as he activated his own portkey and Azalea was left alone with the dead. Tired and heart sick, Azalea returned to Dumbledore's side as she tucked her bokken beneath her left arm before she knelt down and lifted the older wizard's head into her lap. As angry as she'd been with the man for everything that had happened during her fifth year, Azalea had never wished him dead. She'd always thought she'd have the chance to sit down with Dumbledore and explain to him why she had chosen to seek out training on her own.

Tears fell from her eyes once more as she tipped her head back to stare up at the acid green Dark Mark glittering in the sky above the tower while her fingers tenderly stroked Dumbledore's long white hair. Off in the night, the mourning song of a phoenix rose and Azalea felt as if Fawkes's lament was rising up from inside of her and giving voice to her grief. The phoenix's song was as beautiful as it was heartrending and Azalea didn't think she'd ever completely forget the haunting melody that resonated with her soul in that moment.

She had no idea how long she was sitting up there alone with Dumbledore's head cradled in her lap and the dead Death Eater's cooling remains off to one side before a small contingent of staff members and Order members burst out of the door. She ignored the brief cries of distress and disgust that sounded as the witches and wizards laid eyes on the mostly headless body lying in a puddle of blood. Exclamations of relief soon followed as they caught sight of Azalea only for them to be followed by cries of grief and denial the moment they realized that Dumbledore was dead.

"What happened up here, Harriet?" Remus demanded as he crouched down beside Azalea.

"The twins told me that Draco was after something up here," Azalea replied wearily as she pulled her eyes away from the Dark Mark to glance at the older man. "I arrived in time to see Draco murder Dumbledore with the Killing Curse…"

"No!" McGonagall gasped as she pressed her hands to her mouth.

"Draco tried to taunt me but I simply knocked him unconscious," Azalea continued without acknowledging the witch's interruption. "I then hurried forward to check… I had hoped I was wrong… but Dumbledore was dead. Not long after that, three Death Eaters and Snape showed up…"

"Severus was here?" Remus asked in confusion. "What happened to him? Where did the other Death Eaters go? And where is Malfoy?"

"The Death Eaters were happy that Dumbledore was dead; one of them said something about Draco completing the job he'd been given. Then one of them… the man over there, Snape referred to him as someone named Greyback…"

"Fenrir Greyback?" Remus repeated in shock as he dropped back onto his butt.

"I don't know, Snape only used the one name," Azalea answered before she continued one more. "Greyback spoke of taking me to Voldemort and dining on the flesh of students. He made to attack me and I was going to use my bokken to defend myself but his head suddenly exploded. I didn't see who cast the spell though. I used the distraction to knock the other two masked Death Eaters out but then Snape taunted me about belonging to Voldemort before he used portkeys to escape with the others."

"Are you hurt anywhere? Did Greyback bite you at all?"

"No, he never touched me and I wasn't injured at all."

"Thank Merlin; if the man was who I think he was, he was the werewolf that turned me as a child," Remus breathed before he roughly grabbed Azalea in his arms and hugged her tightly while Professor McGonagall and Tonks collected Dumbledore's body. "I've been so worried about you since you took off and then when you suddenly turned up here tonight in the middle of the battle; I thought my heart was going to stop in fright when you didn't even pull out your wand to protect yourself!"

Azalea squirmed free of the older man's embrace, feeling uncomfortable with the physical contact in the wake of everything that had happened since Dobby had shown up in a panic, before she climbed to her feet, unbuttoned her cloak so she could tuck away her bokken, and replied, "I no longer have a wand; it was destroyed months ago."

"Harriet…?"

"Did any one else die? I got here as soon as I could when Dobby told me what was happening but the attack had already started long before Dobby found me."

"No, several students and a few of the adults were injured but no one else died."

"That's good to know," Azalea replied with more than a little relief before a flash of gold falling out of Dumbledore's robes as McGonagall levitated his body down off the tower caught her attention and she walked over to find a familiar necklace sitting on the ground. She picked it up and tucked it into her pocket even as she wondered why Dumbledore would have taken the locket from Grimmauld Place in the first place. Her attention was soon brought back to her present company as she felt fingers wrapping around her left elbow.

"Come on, Miss Potter, let's get you down to the Hospital Wing and let Madam Pomfrey take a look at you to make certain you're alright," Professor Sprout suggested as she attempted to guide Azalea towards the door with the hand she had on her elbow.

"I'm fine, Professor; and I'm not staying," Azalea countered as she pulled her arm free and began heading towards the stairs under her own power. "I'm not finished with my training and I only came tonight because the Death Eaters were attacking the castle."

"You'll at least stay long enough to attend Dumbledore's funeral, won't you?" Remus asked with a worried frown.

"I don't know; I'd like to… Professor Dumbledore was… well, he was Professor Dumbledore but I can't just sit around waiting for days or weeks to attend his funeral because I didn't exactly tell the man supervising my training where I was going. I can't risk him walking off on me with my training incomplete and I promised my partner I'd be back."

"It will only take a couple of days to arrange the funeral," Professor Sprout gently assured her. "In the mean time, you're more than welcome to stay here in the castle; I'm certain your friends will welcome the chance to catch up with you."

"I have no friends in the castle," Azalea countered flatly as she stepped out of the stairwell into the hallway where the earlier battle had taken place. "And while I appreciate the offer, I can not and will not be staying in the castle; even if I do stick around long enough to attend Dumbledore's funeral."

"Where are you going to stay?" George asked as glanced up from where he'd been tying up one of the Death Eaters that Azalea had knocked unconscious earlier.

"I don't know… probably the Leaky Cauldron if they have any rooms available; at least for tonight."

"You can stay with us," Fred insisted as he rejoined his twin.

Azalea agreed after a moment's hesitation and then silently helped the identical boys drag a few of the captured Death Eaters off to one of the unused classrooms where they would be held until the aurors arrived to take them into custody. More than a few adults tried to speak with her about her training and about her staying now that she was back but she mostly ignored them. She firmly believed that her training was none of their business and she was no where near ready to return to the wizarding world.

She was immensely thankful when the twins finally dragged her off as they headed home. The trio stopped only once for Azalea to call Dobby to her and order the elf to grab the package that Dumbledore had left for her in his office and deliver it back to her tent; the sixteen year old taking Snape's suggestion to heart. She also asked the elf to let Kurapika know the battle was over, that she was fine, and that she'd be back in a couple of days because she had a funeral to attend.

An hour later, the three teens were ensconced on the couches in the twin's flat above their store with a tall glass of Firewhiskey each as they mourned Dumbledore's death. She crashed a few hours later on their couch and woke up the next morning with a killer hangover thanks to the Firewhiskey. Fred was kind enough to supply her with a Hangover Cure Chew (one of their more recent inventions). The toffee-like chews were rather disgusting but they were at least fast acting and very effective in eliminating the symptoms of her hangover.

The next two hours were then spent catching up with the prank loving pair as they gave her updates on everything that had been happening in the wizarding world that hadn't been included in the periodical updates they'd given her through Dobby while she told them bits and pieces about her training (never once mentioning Kurapika by name or hinting how close she'd grown to the blond) before the twins had to open their shop.

While Fred and George went to work, Azalea wandered over to Gringotts in order to update her will (removing several names and adding one name in particular) and withdraw another two thousand galleons from her vault (most of which she converted into Jenny). After that, she purchased a new graphorn cloak in Gryffindor red and trimmed with gold to replace her damaged dragon hide cloak (the damage Killua had done to her original cloak proving impossible to repair) and a new Horntail hide vest to go under the cloak for added protection.

She had hoped to see Mr. Ollivander for a replacement wand as well but the Wandmaker had been missing since the end of last summer and she had no desire to see the black market wand dealer in Knockturn Alley for a wand of questionable origin.

She did, on the other hand, duck out of the alley for an hour to purchase a new hat to replace the one she'd lost during the Fourth Phase of the Hunter's Exam (the witch had refused to take it back after Hisoka had tried to return it). This time she picked up a white leather fedora that she took to the wizard that ran the store where she purchased her cloaks and had the man charm the color of the hat to match her new red cloak and layer the hat with several protective charms that would make it harder to lose or damage the hat as well as protect her head better from spell fire or physical attacks.

Azalea returned to the twins' store after that and found Tonks waiting for her in order to take her statement about what she had witnessed the night before. She told her the same story she'd told the others the night before and when she asked to see her wand (to verify what spells she'd cast) Azalea quite truthfully told her that she no longer had a wand and showed her the mess of scars on her right hand from when her wand had burned her as proof.

She did reluctantly admit to being able to cast four spells wandlessly (the Banishing Charm, the Summoning Charm, the Disillusionment Charm, and a weak Cutting Curse) in order to account for the spells several people had seen her cast or use the night before. Before she left, the rather subdued metamorphmagus let all three teens know that Dumbledore's funeral would be taking place at three in the afternoon the following day and that they'd been given permission to Floo directly into McGonagall's office between two and two-thirty.

Supper was a rather somber affair that night and Azalea mostly just picked at the food as her mind cruelly kept replaying Dumbledore's death over and over again. She also missed Kurapika something fierce as she'd not spent a night away from the blond since the night of Hisoka's attack. She probably wouldn't have been able to sleep at all the night before if it hadn't been for the alcohol she'd been given. She wasn't quite as lucky her second night and between the nightmares and missing Kurapika she barely got any sleep at all.

Poor George was on the receiving end of a rather powerful Stinging Hex when he woke Azalea up from a particularly bad nightmare around midnight; all Azalea had seen was the older teen's red hair as he leaned over her as she woke up and Azalea had had a flashback to Hisoka's attack. Azalea apologized the next morning and warned both twins not to wake her no matter how bad her nightmares got before briefly explaining how she'd been attacked once in her sleep by a redheaded man (though she didn't tell them why the man had attacked her or give them any specifics).

George apologized for bringing up bad memories before promising to not wake her up like that again. The three of them then spent the rest of the morning taking inventory and restocking the shelves of the store as they waited for two o'clock to roll around; Azalea slipping out briefly around noon to purchase a single white lily. At one-thirty, they headed back up to the twins' apartment to take showers and get ready to go.

Despite the fact that they were attending a funeral, all three of them dressed in rather bright colors to honor the memory of Dumbledore's love of bright, gaudy colors; the twins wearing their acid green dragon hide suits while Azalea wore her new red cloak and hat over her dark clothes.

McGonagall was there to meet them as they stepped out of the fireplace (or tumbled out in Azalea's case) at a quarter after two and the stern professor used her wand to clear the soot from their clothes before she hugged Azalea tightly and sent them outside to the lake where the funeral would be held. Azalea shooed the twins on out to join their family while she wandered aimlessly through the hallways for forty minutes in order to avoid the crowd of witches and wizards that had gathered to attend the funeral.

There were no seats left when Azalea arrived just as the funeral was about to start but that suited her just fine as she hung back in the shadows near the castle and watched. At precisely three o'clock, a haunting melody filled the air as a pod of merfolk sang a lament from the shallows of the lake and Azalea felt her grief rise up to choke her again. Tears fell freely down her face once more as she saw Hagrid approaching the lake carrying Dumbledore's body; which had been wrapped in a vibrant purple velvet robe covered with glimmering gold stars.

More than one anguished wail rose from the seated audience and very few eyes remained dry as the half-giant carried his burden up to the lake front where a marble table sat.

Hagrid gently placed Dumbledore on the marble table before he retreated off to one side to sit beside his brother; the full blooded giant surprisingly dressed in a suit. Not far from Grawp (just a few scant yards from the forest), several centaurs solemnly stood with their bows held loosely in their hands as they watched the proceedings. The merfolk's song ended at that point and a small wizened old wizard moved to stand in front of Dumbledore's body to give the eulogy. Azalea was too far back to hear what the wizard was saying but that didn't matter to her; her mind was still far too occupied by the memories of green light and empty blue eyes.

Right after the wizard stopped speaking, white and blue flames rose up around Dumbledore's body, blocking the entire table from view, and several people near the front screamed or cried out in shock and fear or maybe in grief. When the flames died down, Dumbledore and the table he'd been placed on had been encased in a pristine white tomb that stood out starkly against the dreary lake. The centaurs paid their tribute to the fallen wizard at that moment as they launched a flight of flaming arrows over the tomb to fall harmlessly into the lake where the flames were immediately extinguished. Both the centaurs and the merfolk disappeared the moment the last arrow had been extinguished.

The gathered crowd surged to its feet in that moment and began scattering; the funeral was over.

Azalea stoically remained where she was standing; waiting for a chance to say goodbye to the man she'd once looked upon as both mentor and meddler. She would receive her chance about a half an hour later once most of the crowd had dispersed. She would have liked to have waited until all of the mourners (and revelers in some cases) had left but she had no idea how long they were going to linger and she couldn't stay all night. Ignoring the curious gazes she felt land on her as she made her way through the endless rows of chairs that had been set up for the ceremony, Azalea slowly approached the white tomb as she took off her hat out of respect for the wizard and tucked it under her right arm.

Azalea couched down in front of the tomb and bowed her head for a moment as her tears splashed down on the marble stone beneath her feet. Blocking her actions with her body and cloak, she called forth her Conjurer's aura to create a small crystal vase that she then filled with water and stuck to the base of the monument with a permanent sticking charm. Next, she pulled the lily she'd purchased earlier out of her pocket and infused it with her Enhancer's aura so that it would not wilt any time soon. She softly kissed the petals before tucking the stem into the vase she'd conjured.

Dumbledore's half-moon glasses (which she'd accidentally kept with her after taking them from Dumbledore's face) were tenderly placed at the base of the vase next before she protected flower, vase, and glasses from theft with a Nen shield created from her Emitter's aura. Rising back to her feet, Azalea reached out to place her palm against the tomb and bowed her head a second time as she fought the urge to scream in fury, frustration, guilt, and grief.

Azalea had just regained some control of her emotions and was pushing away from the tomb when she was unexpectedly engulfed in a swirl of flames that didn't burn as the weight of large bird settled onto her shoulder. Phoenix song filled the air around her as Fawkes gave voice to his lament a second time and Azalea swayed on her feet for a brief moment under the tangible weight of the phoenix's grief. The melody of the song soon changed to one of newborn hope and Azalea felt her magic rise up to greet the magic of the phoenix like an old friend as flames of gold and red danced about the pair.

When Fawkes's song ended, the flames retreated into Azalea's core along with her magic and Azalea gasped softly as she felt a bond form between herself and Dumbledore's phoenix. An influx of foreign emotions assaulted Azalea for a brief moment and it only took a split second for Azalea to realize that she was sensing Fawkes's emotions through the newly established bond. Azalea reached up to stroke Fawkes's breast as the phoenix gently preened her hair once the storm of emotions settled down in the back of her mind where they weren't quite so overwhelming.

"You are a hard individual to track down, Miss Potter," a powerful, gravelly voice declared just seconds later.

Azalea turned around slowly and kept her right hand in clear view of the man that had snuck up on her while her left automatically slipped beneath her cloak and around to the small of her back to grab hold of her bokken. The sixteen year old said nothing as she studied the older wizard, taking in his gray-streaked tawny hair, bushy eyebrows, and calculating yellow-tinted eyes behind wire-rimmed spectacles. Part of her noted that the man carried a cane and based upon the way he was standing actually used it for its intended purpose, unlike the cane Lucius Malfoy used to conceal his wand.

Once she finished her inspection, Azalea flicked her eyes passed the man to find Percy Weasley, Delores Umbridge, and a pair of aurors in red robes hovering just out of hearing range and Azalea narrowed her eyes as she immediately guessed who this man might be and why he might be looking for her. Percy's presence was enough to annoy Azalea, the middle Weasley son had gone out of his way to make trouble for her more than once, but it was Umbridge's presence that really offended Azalea. The sixteen year old's eyes glittered with gold dust when she glanced back to the man still standing in front of her and waited for the man to speak up.

"Do you know who I am, Miss Potter?"

"No and given the company you appear to be keeping, I don't particularly care to know you," Azalea replied in a voice that was just shy of scathing.

"I'd watch my tongue if I were you, girl; I could have you arrested," the man threatened lowly.

"On what grounds?"

"Insulting and threatening the Minister of Magic."

"Ah, so you'll play a Fudge card and spread lies just like the Ministry did all throughout my fifth year," Azalea retorted as she gave the man a disdainful glare. "Somehow I'm not surprised; considering you are allowing that wretched woman to walk around after she spent a year torturing children with dark artifacts but, then again, the Ministry has never cared about justice has it?"

"Miss Potter…"

"Whatever it is you want from me, the answer is no."

"You don't have a choice, Miss Potter; unless you'd like me to snap your wand and throw you into a Ministry holding cell."

"In case you didn't get the memo, I don't have a wand to snap any more; so, you'll have to excuse me for ignoring your empty threats."

"If you cooperate with me, I can see to it that you are outfitted with a new wand before the day is out."

"Wow, threats, bullying, and bribery all in one conversation; I'm flattered. The last time I was so honored was when I was facing a horde of Death Eaters down in the bowels of the Ministry. What's next? Blackmail? Physical violence? Forced marriage contract? Or your people attacking an unarmed underage citizen in full view of at least fifty witnesses?"

"Enough, Miss Potter; you will tell me where you have been all this time, what you have been doing, and how you knew Hogwarts was under attack. I am also having you placed under protective custody from this moment forward and as such you will go where I tell you, when I tell you, and you will do as I say."

"You don't have the authority to demand answers from me nor do you have the political clout to tell me where I will or will not go," Azalea loudly retorted as she dug into her back pocket with her right hand to pull out her Hunter's License (the one carrying her full name). "I'm no longer considered a citizen of the British magical society." The older man paled drastically the moment his eyes saw the Hunter's Association logo on the card that Azalea held in her hand.

Azalea tucked it back into her pocket once she was certain he'd read her name on the card and sneered at the man as she leaned closer to hiss, "The Association is already aware that the British Ministry of Magic has broken the terms of the International Treaty of Cooperation between the International Confederation of Wizards and the Hunter's Association that was signed shortly after Grindelwald's defeat in nineteen-forty-five. And they are very, very displeased over the current state of affairs in Magical Britain. I suggest you tread very carefully, Minister Scrimgeour, because if anything happens to me; the full weight of the Association _will_ be brought down upon all of Magical Britain."

"You… your… your one of _them_!?" the newly named Scrimgeour demanded in a hoarse whisper; the fear and fury in his eyes and voice unmistakable.

"Why, yes, yes I am. I had to get my training somewhere; seeing as how your society refused to acknowledge the danger Voldemort represented since my _first_ year at Hogwarts. You see, I'm quite fond of living and since no one here cared one lick about whether or not I survived the current conflict, I found a group of people who were willing to bend over backwards to help me. Oh, and since you were required to sign the ITC upon being sworn into office, you should know that revealing my status to _**any**_ one without my express permission would be in direct violation of section fourteen point two, subsection b."

"Which clearly states that the identity and personal history of any Hunter born of magical descent will be considered classified information belonging to the Hunter's Association from the date said Hunter obtained his or her Hunter's License and as such may not be distributed to unauthorized individuals without the consent of the Hunter in question and the permission of the presiding Chairman of the Hunter's Association. Should you violate the Treaty; the Association will not hesitate to take action against you. Do have a nice day, Minister… and I do hope we never cross paths again."

Azalea walked away from the man at that point, the teen humming God Save the Queen under her breath as she replaced her hat and pulled it down low to hide the dark smirk on her face. Azalea had learned much from Netero during the days following her temporary death; one being the fact that her status as a Hunter protected her from anything the wizarding world could throw at her (bar spell fire). Legally, the wizarding world couldn't touch her and the moment they tried, the Association would be all over them like a bulldog on a bone.

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**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	25. Dumbledore's x Last x Request

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Twenty-Five: Dumbledore's x Last x Request

Azalea had barely cleared the last row of chairs when she suddenly found herself roughly pulled into the arms of a redheaded teen as said wizard locked his mouth over hers and tried to force his tongue down her throat; the unwanted assault knocking Fawkes from his perch on her shoulder.

Disgusted and angry over the unwanted and unwelcomed kiss, Azalea reached up and hit the person assaulting her with a hard palm strike to the chest coupled with a wandless Banishing Charm before she grabbed her bokken with her left hand while wiping her mouth with her right. Her eyes glittered angrily as she stared at the shocked face of Ron Weasley from where he'd ended up on the ground after she'd pushed him away.

Clenching her jaw, Azalea hissed out a venomous, "Don't _ever_ do that again."

"What the hell, Azalea!" Ron yelled as he scrambled to his feet and pressed his hand to his chest while glaring at her for daring to violently and publicly reject him the way she just had; his ears already turning red.

Ginny was quick to bring her wand up to retaliate on her brother's behalf but Azalea knocked the slightly taller witch hard enough on the wrist with her bokken that she dropped her wand and cried out in shock. When Ron went for his wand next (to defend his sister's honor, presumably), Azalea hit him on the wrist with one of the wooden swords hard enough to make the redhead drop his wand as well.

"I don't appreciate being assaulted," Azalea stated in a low, hard voice. "Should either one of you attempt to touch me or try to cast a spell on me again; I will break your wrists instead of just slapping them."

"What is wrong with you, Azalea?" Horatio demanded as he collected both dropped wands off the ground. "Ron was just greeting you! How else did you expect either of them to react when you attacked your boyfriend?"

"No, he didn't greet me; he was forcing himself on me and I wanted no part of it. Ron was never my boyfriend and he will never be my boyfriend and I sure as hell didn't appreciate him trying to cram his tongue into my mouth without even asking me whether or not I wanted him to touch me let alone kiss me. He's damn lucky I only shoved him away from me instead of me actually attacking him. And I could care less what reasons either of them had for attempting to hex me."

"Why are you being so mean?" Ginny demanded hotly. "What did we ever do to you?"

Azalea's eyes went flat as she looked right at Ginny and quoted the cruel things she'd in her letters right back at her in a dead voice, "_You are such a selfish slag; do you have any idea how many times mum has yelled at me because you took off? Some friend you turned out to be._" She then turned to gaze hard at Horatio as she quoted him next, "_I thought you learned your lesson after what happened to Sirius. You need to go home right now before someone else dies saving you from another one of your foolish stunts._" Lastly, she turned to Ron as she added, "_I can't believe you ran out on us like a coward! I better not find out that you're cheating on me with some wanker. I put up with your prudish ways since fourth year and I'm sick of you drawing attention from the other boys just to make me jealous._"

"But I didn't…"

"I was just…"

"I only wanted…"

"I don't care what your reasons were," Azalea loudly cut in over their attempts to make excuses or apologize. "You made yourselves perfectly clear how you felt about me and my decision to find someone to train me; I don't need or want to hear anything else from any one of you. And Ron, it will be a cold day in hell before I'd ever consider you as someone I could date and I'd kill myself first before I ever let you touch me."

"We're sorry, we didn't mean those things," Horatio blurted out as he made to grab Azalea's hand. "Ron loves you; he was just jealous and upset and if you'd read all of the letters we'd sent you'd have seen we'd apologized for the things we put in the first few letters."

"Maybe the three of you should have thought about that before you actually wrote those letters and gave them to Fred and George to send to me," Azalea countered as she stepped back out of his reach to avoid his hand. "And the only thing Ron ever loved aside from gorging himself like a filthy pig was himself. Now kindly leave me alone."

"You're my girl! I own you! I staked my claim years ago!" Ron yelled loudly, drawing the attention of those witches and wizards that were still in the area.

Azalea looked him up and down before she sneered at him as she retorted, "You're delusional, Weasley; I am not some Merlin-be-damned piece of property that you or any other asinine wizard can claim and just the thought of kissing you makes me want to vomit. I also prefer intelligent blondes over self-absorbed redheads that have worse manners than a poo-flinging chimpanzee at the zoo."

"You're a lying little slag! You told me two years ago that you fancied my brother," Ginny spat venomously as her infamous temper overrode her earlier shame.

"I don't lie and I never said I fancied him; I said there had to be at least one girl in the world that would find him fanciable once he grew up and learned some manners," Azalea snapped angrily as she clenched her right fist and fought the urge to slap the girl she'd once considered a sister for the insult. "Although, it doesn't really matter whether you believe me or not; it won't change the fact that I want nothing to do with him or that I am quite happy with my current partner. Now kindly get out of my way; I'm on a rather tight schedule and I don't have time to cater to the needs of backstabbing former friends."

Azalea pushed her way passed the three of them and hadn't taken more than three steps before she swung her right hand bokken free of her hand and pegged Ron in the center of the forehead to drop him on the ground before catching the second blade in her left hand once more. A satisfied smirk formed on her face as she continued walking without looking back (never seeing or hearing Neville and Luna angrily bearing down on the trio); she just loved her new toys. The smirk was soon replaced by a scowl as she saw a red faced Mrs. Weasley bearing down on her with her husband in tow.

"Could you please take me around this next obstacle, Fawkes?" Azalea asked softly as the bird resettled on her shoulder once more. "I don't feel like being yelled at right now."

Fawkes trilled an affirmative and seconds later Azalea was whisked away in a flash of flames to the stairs just outside of the castle doors; leaving behind a flustered and embarrassed couple. Azalea murmured a soft thanks to the phoenix as she entered the castle in search of the Weasley twins so she could say goodbye. She eventually found them in the Hospital Wing chatting with their brother Bill, who'd been injured at some point during the battle two nights ago.

"Fred, George; it was nice seeing you two again, even if I wish it could have been under better circumstances. I have to get going now though because your mother is on the warpath and I'm certain she's more than a little upset that I slipped away without hearing her lecture and my mere existence offends both your youngest brother and your sister. I also sort of made myself persona non grata with the Minister when he tried threatening me."

"I thought you were close friends with Ginny and that you were dating Ron?" Bill asked in confusion as he glanced towards Azalea.

"I was friends with both Ginny and Ron at one point but they made their feelings about me and my decisions perfectly clear and I severed that friendship after they pissed all over it; they were a little upset to learn that I wasn't going to forgive them this time for their cruelty. And no, I was never dating Ron; I don't know where he got the idea that I liked him that way since I only ever thought of him as friend and brother."

"I'm sorry to hear that as I think you were one of the best things to happen to our family and I am ashamed that my youngest siblings would be so crass as to spit on your friendship after everything you've done for our family. You saved both Ginny and our father's lives and the other night you saved my life; your timely arrival spared me from getting hit in the face at point blank range with the Killing Curse when you showed up when you did. You destroyed the wand of my would-be murderer in your first attack."

"I'm glad I made it in time to help," Azalea replied sincerely as she took in the scars on Bill's face and the sling holding his left arm. "Though I do wish I'd been here an hour sooner so that I could have put a stop to Draco's plots. Anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye…"

"You left your old cloak at our place, you might as well come back with us to grab it," Fred insisted as he took hold of Azalea's arm.

"Might be a good idea to stick around one more day just to see what how the Minister responds to your telling him where he can stick his demands," George added as he grabbed Azalea's other arm.

"You can tell us what he said…"

"…and what you said in return…"

"…while you're at it."

"And you can tell us why you have Dumbledore's phoenix perched on your shoulder."

"Guys, I really need to… alright, fine; better to give in now and spare myself from a pranking later anyway. However, I'm not staying past tomorrow morning," Azalea replied as she noticed the pleading looks she was getting from both twins as they tightened their hold on her. "I am not yet finished with my training and I can't just put it off indefinitely."

"If the three of you don't mind, I'd like to tag along," Bill stated as he glanced between his two brothers and Azalea a couple of times. "Madam Pomfrey released me just a few minutes ago; I'd have been out in time to attend Professor Dumbledore's funeral if not for the fact that I didn't wake up until it had already finished. If mum's in one of her moods, I'd rather not be stuck at the Burrow with her fussing over me on top of the hard time she's still giving me about my engagement to Fleur."

"It's fine with us," Fred and George answered in stereo.

Azalea just shrugged as she added, "Don't know why you're asking me, I'm just their guest."

"True, but it sounds like they want to grill you over an open flame and I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable by tagging along if you'd rather I wasn't there to listen in."

"It's fine; if there's something I can't or don't want to talk about, I'll just not talk about it."

Decision made, Fawkes transported all four magicals to the twins' apartment above their shop at Azalea's request (in order to spare Bill a trip through the Floo or on the Knight Bus due to his injuries). Fleur turned up with supper in hand ten minutes later after Bill had sent her a message to let her know that he would be staying with his brothers for the time being. Azalea congratulated the couple on their upcoming nuptials and received an invitation to the wedding in return. She didn't turn down the invitation but she also didn't make any promises that she would attend given that the wedding was taking place at the Burrow; which was one of the last places she wanted to be right now.

The first half of the evening was then spent drinking and talking (Azalea sticking to butterbeer because she didn't wish to experience another hangover). Azalea asked the older magicals several questions about the nature of magic (specifically looking for more information on apparation); the younger witch wanted to know if that mode of transportation could be triggered by accidental magic (it couldn't). Bill even promised to teach Azalea how to apparate and how to cast a number of higher level defensive spells, how to put up and take down spelled wards, and an assortment of curse breaking spells that might come in handy (to repay the debt he felt he owed her for her part in saving his life).

When the talk rolled around to what had happened after the funeral, Azalea hesitantly spoke of her bonding with Fawkes, her conversation with the Minister of Magic, and her confrontation with her former friends after Bill and Fleur both gave her their oath that they wouldn't repeat a word of what they learned with anyone outside of the twins. The revelation that Azalea was a Hunter stunned the couple as they both immediately understood the significance of her new status. Bill because he'd had run ins with Hunters before through his work as a Gringotts Curse Breaker and Fleur because of what she'd learned of the Association through her father's connections within the French Ministry of Magic.

When asked why she'd chosen to go that route, instead of seeking help from the wizarding community; Azalea revealed the existence of the prophecy and that it basically stated everything came down to a fight between her and Voldemort (though she didn't tell them the exact wording of the prophecy). The revelation that Dumbledore had known about the prophecy and that it applied to Azalea since before the night her parents had died but had failed to actually prepare Azalea for the role she would play in the war helped them to better understand her decision to seek training elsewhere.

The rest of the night was spent discussing their options and making tentative plans to deal with Voldemort and his Death Eaters once Azalea had finished her training. The news that Azalea expected to be finished by her seventeenth birthday was a bit of a relief for the older magicals as they'd almost feared that Azalea would be gone for another full year. Just before they crashed for the night, they agreed to meet on the first of August to finalize their plans and make preparations to implement said plans.

Azalea also gave Bill and Fleur permission to call on Dobby in case they needed to get a hold of her in the event of an emergency or another attack. The twins already had permission to call on Dobby and because they were her main source of information. All four were also given permission to call on Kreacher in order to keep abreast of any Order news since there was some confusion on whether or not the Order of the Phoenix would survive without Dumbledore to lead them. Kreacher was not pleased when he was given the new orders to pass his information to the twins as well as to Azalea but he didn't create as much of a fuss as he would have six months earlier (thanks to her earlier orders).

The next morning, after another less than peaceful night's sleep, Azalea stayed just long enough to collect that morning's copy of the Daily Prophet before she gathered her things, bid the four older magicals goodbye, and asked Fawkes to take her back to the forest. She arrived in the center of the camp in a flash of flames in the middle of the night and probably would have found herself under attack if not for the fact that Mizuken was no where in sight and Kurapika was asleep in the tent. The sixteen, nearly seventeen, year old witch simply stood in the middle of the clearing for a long time with her head bowed as her emotions skittered out of a control as the enormity of Dumbledore's death hit her once more.

After a half an hour, Azalea buried her grief and slipped quietly into the tent where she set Fawkes up with a conjured perch so the phoenix could rest. She then dumped both cloaks and her new hat on the couch before she crept into the bedroom, stripped out of her clothes, and slipped on one of Kurapika's shirts (she needed and wanted the comfort of his scent enveloping her). She then changed into her cat form and climbed up onto the bed (so that she wouldn't disturb the blond by shaking the bed with her full weight) and sat watching Kurapika sleep for a long time before she curled up on her pillow, wrapped her tail tightly around her body, and drifted off to sleep.

Azalea woke several hours later to find herself cradled in Kurapika's arms while the blond tenderly scratched her behind the ears. She snuggled deeper into the crook of Kurapika's elbow and gave into the urge to purr as she swung her tail up to brush against the older teen's chin. The witch turned cat then drank in Kurapika's scent along with the warmth and security she felt in that moment and burned them into her soul in the hopes that the memory of this moment and a hundred others like it would be enough to carry her through the impending separation.

"How long do you plan to stay in that form, kitten?" Kurapika asked after another minute.

Azalea flicked her ear and rolled her head so that she could peek up at the older teen with one eye. Her purrs abruptly cut off a heartbeat later as she let out a sigh before she wriggled free of Kurapika's arms, jumped down onto the bed, and reverted back to her human self. Arms encircled her from behind almost the second the change was complete and Azalea tensed for a moment before she sighed again and leaned back against Kurapika's chest.

"What time did you get back and why were you sleeping in your cat form?"

"Sometime around midnight I think; I wasn't paying that much attention at the time," Azalea replied with a shrug. "And I only changed into my animagus because I didn't want to disturb you."

"You know I wouldn't have minded if you'd woken me up."

"I know, it's just that you looked so peaceful sleeping there that I couldn't bring myself to wake you up."

"Silly kitten," Kurapika breathed with a soft laugh as he nuzzled the back of Azalea's neck. Azalea hummed softly and twisted in Kurapika's arms so she could press her face into the eighteen year old's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him in return. After a moment Kurapika softly asked, "Will you tell me what happened after you left?"

"They were outnumbered two to one when I arrived and a number of them had been injured before I got there. I didn't really want to advertise the full range of my wandless skills so I stuck to using my bokken against the two dozen Death Eaters that were fighting. They weren't expecting the physical attacks and it didn't take me long to even the odds a little with the help of those on the light side that were still fighting. The twins then filled me in on what little they knew before they asked me to go after the one responsible for letting them into the castle but I arrived too late to stop the little ferret from murdering Dumbledore. I knocked Draco out and disarmed him before I ended up facing three more Death Eaters and Snape."

"I killed one of them," Azalea confessed as she shivered in remembrance. "The sick bastard spoke of playing with me and dining on my flesh before delivering me to the Dark Lord and the moment he started walking towards me I hit him in the face with a Blasting Curse at point blank range and his head exploded. I then knocked the other two out and spoke with Snape for a minute before he grabbed the two unconscious Death Eaters and Draco and escaped by portkey. The fight was pretty much over for me at that point. I don't even know how long I sat up on the top of the tower cradling Dumbledore's head on my lap before the others came looking for me."

Kurapika gently rocked Azalea and rubbed his hand in circles on Azalea's back as he asked, "Are you coping alright with taking that man's life?"

"I don't know; I haven't really dwelt on him aside from trying not to think about what he would have done to me if I hadn't killed him. I've been far more hung up on the guilt I still feel for not getting there in time to stop Draco from killing Dumbledore. I was angry with the old wizard but I never wished him harm; I thought there would be time to talk with him one last time, to get answers, and to explain myself. I nearly came back once it was over and after I made certain that no one else had died that night but they spoke of Dumbledore's funeral and I felt I owed it to the man to at least pay my final respects."

"I stayed with the twins in order to avoid being confronted by everyone and that first night I ended up passing out drunk after the twins plied me with Firewhiskey. I spent the next day wandering about Diagon Alley and it was terrible; the place was almost like a ghost town and the few witches and wizards in the Alley were jumping at shadows. I returned to the twins' shop after that and gave my statement to Auror Tonks about the fight (only leaving out the information that I'd killed one of the Death Eaters since killing is frowned upon by the bulk of the magical society) and she let us know that the funeral would take place the next day."

"The funeral itself was short and simple but nice, I suppose; the mermaids sang a lament from the lake, the centaurs fired a tribute of flaming arrows, and some tiny old wizard gave the eulogy but I was too far away to hear what he said. Once the man finished speaking, Dumbledore's body was surrounded by flames and a huge marble memorial appeared to entomb him. I hung back and waited for most everyone to leave before I approached the tomb to pay my respects and left an enchanted lily at the base of the memorial and returned his glasses to him as I'd forgotten I'd tucked them into my pocket when I checked to see if there was any chance that he was still alive."

"That's when things went down hill," Azalea wearily added after a few minutes of silence.

"What do you mean, Zalea?"

"I was confronted by the new Minister of Magic; Rufus Scrimgeour. He tried to bully, threaten, and bribe me but I put him in his place after he tried to have me arrested (though he claimed he was placing me in protective custody) and flashed my license at him. I hadn't wanted to reveal my Hunter status so soon but I didn't want to start an open war with the Ministry when I still have to deal with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. After that, I passed on Netero's displeasure and warning before leaving the man to stew. I don't know if he heeded my warnings or not; I picked up a copy of today's issue of the Daily Prophet but I haven't looked at it yet."

"That's not what is really bothering you, is it?"

"No… I was confronted by my former friends immediately after that."

"Ah, let me guess; they either tried to pretend that nothing had changed or they tried to yell at you?"

"Eventually… but first I had to defend my virtue from the youngest male Weasley."

"Oh?" Kurapika drawled with feigned casualness as he tightened his arms possessively around Azalea.

"He didn't even say hello before he grabbed me and tried to stuff his tongue in my mouth," Azalea growled irritably with remembered irritation. "I shoved him off me and both Ron and Ginny tried to hex me. I cracked them both hard enough on the wrist to make them drop their wands and threatened to break their wrists if they tried to attack me again. Horatio attempted to take me to task for defending myself and they all acted offended before daring to ask me what they'd done wrong. They didn't take to kindly me quoting their letters back at them. They then tried to make excuses but I was in no mood to listen to them."

"Ron yelled something about how I was supposed to be his girlfriend and how I belonged to him after that and I flat out told him that I was not his personal property and insulted his intelligence and his manners. Ginny tried to claim how I told her I fancied Ron two years ago but I called her out on it and then I told her I didn't care what she thought, that I was perfectly happy with you, and walked away after that. Ron made to grab me from behind but I knocked him out with my bokken. Have I told you lately just how much I like those swords? I just knew I'd enjoy knocking idiots about with them."

Kurapika chuckled over that last statement as he gently nipped at Azalea's neck and slipped his hands beneath the shirt she was wearing to massage her lower back. Azalea hummed appreciatively and pressed closer as she let the sensation of Kurapika's fingers kneading her back chase away her irritation. The two of them spent the next hour snogging before they got up, took a shower, and ate a late breakfast before starting their morning training. The comforting normalcy of their usual morning routine helped Azalea find her equilibrium and by the time they finished their morning spar she was feeling more like herself.

As they were sitting down for lunch, Fawkes made his presence known as he appeared on the table in front of Azalea in a flash of flames carrying the package that Dobby had collected from Dumbledore's office. Kurapika cried out in shock and threw himself backwards at the sudden appearance of the phoenix and Azalea snickered at the blond as she took the package from Fawkes and offered him some of the diced fruit from her plate. Hedwig barked in irritation (and jealousy) as she landed on Azalea's shoulder and cuffed her about the head and Azalea was quick to placate her with an offering of ham from her sandwich while telling her that she was still the best owl in the world.

"Where'd the self-barbecuing bird come from?" Kurapika asked once he'd collected himself and returned to his seat.

Fawkes let out an indignant hiss over the minor insult and Azalea shushed the phoenix with another offering of fruit before she replied, "Do you remember the phoenix I mentioned a few times when I was telling you about my Hogwarts years?" Kurapika let out a soft 'oh' of understanding even as he nodded. "I'm not sure why but he bonded with me right after I paid my last respects to Dumbledore and just before the Minister approached me. Fawkes even helped me avoid one of Mrs. Weasley's blistering lectures yesterday and he's the one that brought me back earlier this morning."

"Ah, I suppose I owe him an apology for the insult then. I take it he'll be sticking around?"

"I guess. I never expected to have a second pet or familiar but I find myself not minding the idea of Fawkes sticking around. I've always been fond of him and more than a little fascinated by him. He also saved my life after I killed the basilisk and it had been one of his tail feathers that had made my old wand so special. And while Fawkes is special, he'll never replace Hedwig in my heart but that doesn't mean I don't have room for him as well."

"Ah, that makes sense. What was it he brought you just now?"

"I'm not exactly certain," Azalea replied as she glanced down at the rather heavy package in her hands. "Just before Snape left the school, he told me that Dumbledore had left something for me in his office and I asked Dobby to pick it up and bring it here for me. I'd pretty much forgotten all about it until now but I suppose this must be what he left me since Fawkes brought it to me."

As she spoke, Azalea carefully slid her finger beneath the seam on the paper wrapping sealing the package and used a silent and wandless _Finite_ to cancel the sticking charm that was holding the paper in place. Inside she found a well made, if slightly plain, cedar box with a parchment envelope stuck to the top. Scrawled across the front of the envelope in Dumbledore's loopy handwriting was her full name in bright purple ink and Azalea reached out to run a finger over each letter as she recalled each time she'd seen her name written in Dumbledore's elegant hand.

Shaking off her maudlin thoughts, Azalea canceled the sticking charm on the envelope and turned it over so that she could break the seal on the back. She withdrew the single sheet of folded parchment that had been inside with shaking hands as the knowledge that she was holding the last words that Dumbledore would ever say to her hit her hard. A fresh wave of grief cascaded through her at that moment and she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose in an effort to hold back the tears burning her eyes and the scream lodged in the back of her throat.

Fawkes trilled out a soothing melody as he walked up to perch on the edge of the table in front of Azalea and head butted her in the chest a couple of times while Hedwig ran her beak through her hair and snuffled little cooing barks. After a minute, Azalea lowered her hand and stroked both birds in silent thanks for the comfort they'd provided before she roughly cleared her throat, buried the last of her grief, and unfolded the note in her hand. She then took a couple of deep breaths before she read Dumbledore's last words while Fawkes hopped down onto her lap.

_My dear Harriet,_

_I have lost count of the number of apologies I owe you for the decisions and mistakes I have  
made in regards to you, your life, and your wellbeing throughout the past fifteen years. I  
had thought there would be time to make amends when everything was over but I find my  
time here on this earth is quickly running out._

_When you left my office after our last discussion, I had thought that we'd had an accord but  
it would seem that I misjudged the depth of your anger and the level of desperation you must  
have felt in the wake of learning the full weight of the burden you must bear on top of losing  
your godfather. I did not realize my mistake until after you had taken matters into your own  
hands. _

_I will admit to being angry when I first learned that you'd left your relatives house but upon  
later reflection, I realized that I did not leave you much choice. I had also feared that you  
had purposefully left your family open to an attack by leaving until I discovered that you'd  
left behind most of your belongings. You see, by leaving your things in the care of your aunt  
and uncle; both you and your relatives acknowledged that No. Four Privet Drive was still  
your home and therefore you both fulfilled the conditions required by the blood wards. _

_That protection will remain active until your seventeenth birthday so long as your things  
remain in their home. I have made arrangements for all three of your relatives to be taken into  
protective custody a week prior to your seventeenth birthday in order to prevent them from  
falling into the hands of Voldemort's Death Eaters. So you need not fear for their safety._

_There are many things I had wished to discuss with you over the course of your sixth year but  
if you have taken the road that I suspect you did, then by the time you return I will no longer  
walk amongst the living. Knowing this, I have chosen to copy the relevant memories, provide  
copies of my notes, and gather a few helpful items so that you will have all of the information  
and tools you need to complete your quest. Everything I have collected for you can be found  
inside of the cedar box that this letter was attached to. _

_The last three things I will leave for you are; a sincere apology for hiding the full truth of your  
heritage from you and for sealing away the gifts you were born with, the knowledge for which  
you used to search for in the library after curfew, and Fawkes. _

_I only hope that you will someday find it in your heart to forgive an old man for his mistakes._

_Sincerely,  
Albus Dumbledore_

The moment that she finished reading the letter, Azalea let the parchment slip from her fingers as a burning numbness settled over her soul. She wasn't quite certain whether or not she should be angry over the revelation that it had been Dumbledore that had been trying to keep her heritage hidden from her as well as being responsible for the bindings she'd discovered on her core. Part of her wanted to hate the man for things he had done, for the things he'd said, for destroying the image Azalea had once held of him, and for being human. The rest of her just wished the man was still alive so she could yell at him, beg him for answers, and tell him how much he meant to her.

Azalea pulled her glasses off and buried her face in her hands as she tried to make sense of her thoughts and emotions while memories of every conversation she'd ever shared with Dumbledore echoed through her mind. She heard a chair scraping across the tile floor followed by footsteps rounding the table and the rustle of parchment as Kurapika collected the letter she'd dropped. If it had been anyone else, Azalea might have protested the invasion of privacy but she trusted Kurapika and would have shared the letter with the older teen anyway.

A hand falling on Azalea's shoulder a minute later pulled her from her introspection and she pulled her face from her hands and tipped her head back to glance up at the young man that was not quite her lover, not quite her boyfriend, and far more than a friend. Kurapika searched her eyes intently for a moment before he softly ordered, "Eat, Zalea. I know it's probably the last thing you want to do right now but I doubt you've eaten much since Friday night and even though you tried to hide it I know you haven't been sleeping well since then either; I saw the circles under your eyes this morning."

"I wasn't hiding it… I just didn't think it important enough to mention."

"Stubborn brat," Kurapika huffed as he squeezed Azalea's shoulder before shooing both birds off of Azalea so that the sixteen year old could eat.

Azalea snorted before she reluctantly picked at the fruit on her plate while her gaze was unerringly drawn to the wooden box sitting so innocently on the table beside her. One part of her wanted nothing to do with the contents of the box, another part feared what she might find inside and how it would affect her, and the last part was curious and almost eager to see what kind of information Dumbledore thought was so important that he took pains to make certain that it would get to her.

The only thing Azalea didn't think about at all was Dumbledore's last request; her emotions were far too raw right now for her to even consider whether or not she could ever forgive Dumbledore and right now she didn't know the full extent of the man's manipulations.

* * *

**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	26. The x Corrupted x Soul

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six: The x Corrupted x Soul

It took Azalea two days to find the courage to open the cedar box that Dumbledore had left her and that was with both Kurapika and Fawkes dropping subtle and not so subtle reminders. Seeing the pensieve brought back memories of the times she'd viewed the memories held within Dumbledore's larger and fancier pensieve without permission; including seeing one of Snape's worst memories. Stuck to the basin was a parchment containing detailed instructions on how to use the pensieve, how to withdraw memories, how to return the memories to one's mind or a vial, and the descriptions, incantations, and wand movements for all of the spells involved.

Aside from the pensieve and memory vials, there was a snitch, several books and journals, Gryffindor's Sword, the silver lighter-like gadget that she recalled Moody using the night she was taken to Grimmauld Place after the dementor attack, a plain brown box, an old black briefcase, a Hunter's Portfolio that was cracked with age, and several small rolls of parchment (each one labeled with the name of an item within the cedar box).

Kurapika was fascinated by the concept of being able to view memories and Azalea introduced the blond to the magical world with the memory of her first night at Hogwarts, starting from the moment she stepped down off the Hogwarts Express that first time and ending the moment the feast ended. The eighteen year old then asked if he could see a few of Azalea's memories of the misadventures she had spoken of not that long ago. Azalea obliged him by showing him the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament where she faced the Hungarian Horntail, her fight against the Basilisk, the only meeting of Lockhart's dueling club, rescuing Sirius in third year, Norbert's hatching, meeting Grawp, and a couple of her more memorable Quidditch matches.

Azalea wouldn't start viewing the memories that Dumbledore had left her until a week later.

The first thing Azalea looked at, after showing her memories to Kurapika, was the Hunter Portfolio and Azalea actually cursed Dumbledore's name when she discovered that the portfolio had belonged to her great-grandfather. Aside from her great-grandfather's Hunter Certificate, the old portfolio held a number of important documents inside of a magically expanded pocket that had been created in the seam between the outer cover and the inner portions of the portfolio. Those documents included birth certificates, adoption certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, immigration forms, and an assortment of medical and educational certificates for her maternal great-great-grandparents, great- grandparents, grandparents, granduncle, grandaunt, parents, and herself.

It was a priceless trove of familial information and Azalea was torn between excitement at finally having a chance to truly learn something about her mother's family and fury at Dumbledore for having hidden that information from her for so long. She settled on excitement as she avidly devoured the names and a brief history of the past four generations of her maternal family; such as the fact that her mother had actually been adopted by her paternal uncle at age three which meant that Aunt Petunia was technically just her second cousin; she was still a blood relative though, and she supposed that was what really counted.

A glance at the parchment from the cedar box labeled as Hunter's Portfolio simply stated that it had belonged to her great-grandfather and made no mentions of the hidden pocket or the documents inside (though Azalea suspected the man had known about both due to hers, her father's, and her mother's important documents being inside). Reading through the rest of the labeled parchments gave her a bit more information about what each item was (for those that weren't obvious) and why they'd been given to her.

The journals held all of Dumbledore's personal notes on Voldemort and a number of known and suspected Death Eaters, his personal account of the war with Grindelwald, and a detailed history Dumbledore had pieced together on the Potter, Black, and Evans families (a large portion of which focused on Azalea and the decisions that Dumbledore had made in her life). The other books included a book of magical fairytales, several pureblood genealogies (from Germany, Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales), a few rare tomes (on magical theory, abilities, and family inheritances), and the Potter, Black, and Evans family grimoires.

The memory vials apparently held important clues that Azalea would need in order to take on an important quest that she was supposed to complete before she could face Voldemort. Gryffindor's Sword was supposed to help her on that quest due to the destructive properties the goblin forged blade had been imbued with after she'd used it to slay the basilisk. The snitch was the one she'd caught in her first ever Quidditch game (the one she nearly swallowed). After learning that the snitch contained something important, she opened it using the charmed penknife she'd bought to replace the one she'd ruined in the Dept. of Mysteries and found an unfamiliar ring with a cracked stone.

She would later thread the ring on a leather cord that she tied around her neck so that it didn't get lost because of the importance that Dumbledore had placed upon it.

The silver lighter-like object was actually called a Deluminator and it was a one-of-a-kind magical device that had been designed and created by Albus Dumbledore. The plain brown box held several albums containing photographs from both sides of her family. And, like the Hunter's Portfolio, the black briefcase had belonged to Azalea's great-grandfather; though Dumbledore claimed that he hadn't known what it contained because he'd never been able to open it.

Over the next seven days, Azalea spent the time she'd previously used for research and half of her evenings skimming through the various books and journals; studiously avoiding the memory vials, her great-grandfather's briefcase, the box of photographs, and the family grimoires. She avoided the latter three items because she feared to get lost in them and the former because of the knot that formed in her stomach every time she thought about the 'quest' that Dumbledore had mentioned more than once. She was also far more interested in things that could help fight Voldemort on more even footing or any information about who she would need to keep an eye on as far as Death Eaters went.

Kurapika had been interested in the books and journals as well; though the older teen couldn't read through the grimoires due to the protective magic woven into each of them (only family members could open them safely). He actually focused on the book of fairytales (because he found them interesting) and Dumbledore's journal documenting Grindelwald's rise and the subsequent war. He found the Tale of the Three Brothers more than a little amusing and he often teased her about trying to collect the Hallows because she already had an invisibility cloak and she had often spoken of getting a powerful wand to replace the wand she lost.

At the end of that week, Azalea would finally start viewing the memories Dumbledore had left her.

She ended up spending two full days watching the memories; ignoring her training to do so as she learned about Riddle's childhood, his years at school, what happened to him after he left Hogwarts, and glimpses of his decent into madness as he delved deeper into the Dark Arts – specifically the forbidden Black Arts (those magics that dealt with sacrifice and murder). It was a considerable amount of useful information that allowed Azalea to better understand the wizard that became Voldemort but none of it really told her how to defeat the Dark Lord.

The information regarding the horcruxes (what they were and the proof that Voldemort had made at least three) appalled and terrified Azalea; the concept of purposefully tearing her soul into pieces abhorrent to the young witch. There were also indications that three or four more horcruxes potentially existed. Dumbledore had listed each known horcrux, each potential horcrux, and possible locations where one of them might be found.

The revelation that the diary she'd destroyed in her second year one of the known horcruxes was disturbing. The news that Dumbledore had been mortally injured destroying a second one (which had been made from the ring she now wore around her neck) just a few weeks after Azalea had left her relatives was troubling. But Dumbledore's belief that Azalea herself was a horcrux absolutely horrified the young witch.

The proof was there in Dumbledore's memories and in his journals; the dark residue that had been found on Azalea the night her parents had died, the pain she'd felt in her scar any time she was near Voldemort, the similarities in their abilities (most notably her ability to use parseltongue), the connection that allowed Azalea to receive visions from the Dark Lord, and the ease with which Voldemort had taken possession of her at the Ministry.

Like the day she'd read the hurtful letters from those she'd once thought of as family, Azalea would have broken under the knowledge that she was a living receptacle for one of Voldemort's soul fragments and that the only way for her to destroy the fragment was for her to die if not for Kurapika. The older teen calmly pointed that Azalea had already fulfilled the dying requirement (when Killua had pierced her heart), reminded the witch that Voldemort had not made use of their supposed connection since her temporary death, and drew attention to the fact that Azalea's scar had all but faded completely.

Kurapika had then kicked her out of the tent and ordered her to get back to training as she'd already missed more than enough time. A ten mile run followed by an hour long Nen spar against Mizuken helped Azalea to center her emotions and gave her a chance to really think about everything she'd learned to date about Voldemort and his horcruxes. The two hour long spar against Kurapika using their bokken, hands, feet, and Nen that followed her spar against Mizuken helped distract her completely from everything that had been bothering her and gave her mind (and therefore her worries) a chance to rest.

She returned to the box of clues and tricks that Dumbledore had left her after supper and began compiling a list of the potential objects that Voldemort might have used to create additional horcruxes. There were only three suspected horcruxes (Slytherin's Locket, Hufflepuff's Cup, and Nagini) and one completely unknown horcrux (potentially made from something belonging to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor but really could be anything). When she fell into bed beside Kurapika later that night, Azalea couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something important.

It wasn't until two days later that Azalea recalled seeing Slytherin's Locket at Grimmauld Place and of the locket falling out of Dumbledore's robes on the night he died. The soon to be seventeen year old witch spent nearly three hours tearing the tent apart trying to find the locket while Kurapika watched her in confused fascination before she recalled that she'd tucked it into the pocket of her old cloak. Dobby then ecstatically cleaned up Azalea's messes while the witch hunted for the old cloak (she had kept it for sentimental reasons and as a reminder to think things through before throwing herself headfirst into danger).

Once she dug out the damaged dragon-hide cloak, Azalea methodically emptied the pockets in search of the locket only to be distracted when Draco's hawthorn and unicorn hair wand let off a pathetic burst of silver sparks the moment she pulled it out of her cloak by the handle. By contrast, the moment her hand wrapped around the handle of Dumbledore's old wand, a veritable flood of frozen black and gold sparks burst forth from the wand and swirled around her in a maelstrom of haunting music and magic as the wand bonded itself to her (and unknowingly linked itself to the ring she wore around her neck).

The intensity of the connection formed with that wand far exceeded the one she'd had with her holly wand and Azalea stared at the pale wand in shock for several minutes before she remembered what she was supposed to be doing.

Tucking Dumbledore's wand into the pocket of her new cloak alongside Draco's wand, Azalea resumed searching through the pockets of the old cloak until she pulled out the locket she'd picked up off the Astronomy Tower the night of the attack. The moment she had the locket in her hands, Azalea knew it was a fake. It was far too light, the gold appeared to be tarnished instead of aged, the gems forming the 's' shaped snake too pale (mere green colored crystals instead of true emeralds), and it did not radiate that barely felt feeling of utter dread that the original one had when she'd handled it that day in Grimmauld Place.

Confirmation came when she easily opened the locket and found a scrap of parchment with a scribbled message inside.

_To the Dark Lord_

_I know that I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to  
know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real  
horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the  
hope that when you meat your match, you will be mortal once more. _

_R.A.B._

Azalea's thoughts ran a mile a minute as she tried to think of who R.A.B. might be and what the person might have done with the horcrux until her thoughts ground to a halt once she recalled when and where she'd seen the original. Huffing at her own idiocy, Azalea wrapped her hand around both locket and note as she called out a sharp, "Kreacher!"

The crotchety old elf appeared with a loud crack and began bowing to Azalea only for him to halt and let out a noise that sounded something like the croaking squeal of a frog that had just been stepped on when his eyes fell upon the locket clutched in Azalea's hands. Azalea immediately knew that the elf knew something about the fake locket; she could see it in Kreacher's eyes. The elf's eyes were filled with despair, anger, guilt, grief, and self-loathing.

"Do you know what this is, Kreacher?" Azalea asked as she dropped the locket so that it dangled in her hands from the chain and swung back and forth just a few feet away from the trembling elf's eyes.

"Yes."

"Do you know who wrote the letter that was locked inside of it?"

Kreacher seemed to struggle with himself for a long minute before he grudgingly replied, "Yes."

"Do you know what happened to the real locket?"

"Kreacher knows," the elf rasped as he reached up and began painfully twisting his ears.

"Stop hurting yourself, Kreacher; and tell me where the locket is."

"Kreacher has the Dark Lord's terrible locket. Kreacher saved it, he did. Kreacher not let horrible witches and wizards steal or throw away the Dark Lord's terrible locket."

"Good," Azalea stated simply as she crouched down so that she was eye level with the elf; her reply shocking the elf enough that he gaped at Azalea for several seconds. "Kreacher, I order you to bring me the locket."

"No, Kreacher has to destroy the Dark Lord's locket. Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to not let anyone touch the locket. Master Regulus's last order was for Kreacher to destroy the locket but Kreacher failed. Kreacher will not fail his beloved Master Regulus again!"

"What if I told you that I knew how to destroy the locket? What if I told you that I wanted to help you destroy the locket?" Azalea countered; her eyes glittering with specks of gold as she held the elf's gaze.

Kreacher trembled again before he suddenly disappeared with a sharp crack and Azalea felt a moment's uncertainty over whether the elf's departure meant he was going to cooperate or if the elf was going to hide the stupid locket someplace she'd never find it. She received an answer two minutes later when the elf reappeared with the locket in hand and Azalea smiled in both relief and satisfaction as she accepted the locket from the elf and tucked the fake one into her pocket.

"Thank you, Kreacher; Regulus would be proud of you right now. Give me a minute to gather the things I will need and then you may follow me out into the forest so that you may witness the locket's destruction."

"I'm going with you as well," Kurapika insisted as he briefly snagged Azalea by the elbow in order to get Azalea's attention.

"You will stay well back out of the way because if you get hurt, I will never forgive myself," Azalea ordered in a no-nonsense tone as she briefly met Kurapika's eyes before she hurried into the other room to grab Gryffindor's Sword from the cedar box.

Twenty-three minutes later, Azalea was standing in the middle of a clearing two miles away from camp while Kreacher, Mizuken, and Kurapika hovered on the edge of the clearing. Using her Conjurer's aura, Azalea created a stone alter that she placed Slytherin's Locket on top of before she tucked Gryffindor's Sword beneath her arm so she could button up the front of her graphorn robes. Next, she flicked her right hand in the direction of her audience in order to raise a wandless shield to protect the three of them from any backlash that resulted from the destruction of the locket.

The teen was not certain what would happen since the only experience she had with horcruxes had been when she destroyed the diary (she'd not been conscious when she died, after all).

Taking a deep breath, Azalea closed her eyes and drew deeply on her magic and her rage as she mentally prepared herself for what she had to do. Azalea then shrouded herself in an aura of pure magic as she palmed Gryffindor's Sword and twirled the sword once so that it was facing point down as she clasped it with both hands. The not quite seventeen year old witch then gave voice to a loud battle cry just seconds later as she slammed the blade home through the center of the locket hard enough to embed the sword into the conjured rock nearly all the way to the hilt.

There was a mighty pulse of foul magic and a shrill scream of pure agony filled the clearing as an inky black cloud of smoke poured from the locket. The cloud formed itself into the image of a twenty-something Tom Riddle and the shade's hands stretched out as if to strangle Azalea as it screamed a second time in fury before it shattered into a million pieces and vanished like smoke. Silence soon fell over the clearing once more and Azalea almost felt disappointed over the rather anticlimactic destruction of the locket. She'd half expected an explosion, an attempted possession, or at least a verbal cursing filled with promises of retribution; something more than a little blast of magic, an annoying scream, and a vanishing shade.

"That was almost too easy," Azalea muttered as she casually withdrew the sword from the stone and leaned down to study the locket for a moment as she released the aura surrounding her and let her magic withdraw back into her core.

"How much longer is this going to take, King Arthur?" Mizuken called out from the forest line.

"Sorry, Mizuken; but I'm not exactly the kingly type and in case you've forgotten, I'm the wrong gender. I always considered myself more of a Merlin or Morgana type personally; you know the whole I can transform you into a newt and turn you into potions ingredients if you continue to annoy me thing sort of goes hand in hand with my magic."

Kurapika burst out laughing at the indignant look on Mizuken's face while Kreacher popped up beside Azalea's knee and wrapped his arms around the witch's leg as the elf bawled loudly. Azalea awkwardly patted the emotional house elf on the head a few times. She then pulled the fake locket out of her pocket and draped it around Kreacher's neck.

"I think it only proper that you keep the fake locket as a reminder that you finally completed Regulus's last order. And later tonight, after you finish your chores for the day and when you are feeling up to it, you can come back and tell me Regulus's story; how he discovered the Dark Lord's horcruxes, how he stole the locket, and what happened to him."

"Kreacher will do as Master James asks," Kreacher promised in an almost respectful tone as he cleaned his snot and tears from Azalea's dueling robes before he vanished in a crack; the elf addressing her with something akin to respect for the time since she'd first met him.

Azalea shook her head and collected the ruined locket before she dismissed the conjured stone, dropped the protective shield she had raised, and made her way to Kurapika's side. The taller teen gave her a critical once over, to make certain she was unharmed, before he grabbed Azalea in a headlock and dragged her back in the direction of camp. Azalea yelped indignantly and promptly threatened to hex the older teen in tender places if he didn't let go while Mizuken followed along behind them laughing and shaking his head.

Azalea spent the rest of that day and part of the next searching through all of Dumbledore's journals for all of the information on the three potential remaining horcruxes and possible locations that Voldemort might have stashed them.

Once she was finished with that, Azalea turned her focus back to her training as the knowledge that she had less than a month remaining before she'd need to leave haunted her day and night. During that time, she pushed herself physically in an effort to increase her speed and stamina even further. Her Nen training focused mainly on mastering those things she'd already learned and increasing the length of time she could hold each aura or all six auras at once. Her self defense training focused on predicting her opponent's attacks and moves as well as decreasing her reaction time. And finally, her magical training once more incorporated wanded spells on top of her wandless casting.

Using Dumbledore's wand felt weird at first but the more Azalea used it, the more comfortable she grew wielding the strange wand. Draco's wand, on the other hand, was tossed into her book bag and ignored since she was afraid of having it burn up in her hand like her holly wand had months earlier. If her not-quite boyfriend and her Nen instructor had been impressed with her wandless training displays, they were down right speechless and more than a little nervous after the first time they saw her let loose with a wand.

Part of that was the absence of the bindings on her core, part was the newfound control she'd gained over her magic through her wandless casting and Nen training, and the rest was the actual wand she was using; though Azalea wasn't aware of that last bit yet.

Azalea had carefully tested the wand before she actually used it to cast a spell, simply channeling her magic through the focus a little at a time until she'd sent the full weight of her core into it while prepared to withdraw her magic the instant she felt the wand heat up in her hand; it hadn't. Once she knew the wand could bear the full brunt of her magic, she no longer had to hold back when it came to casting wanded spells since she didn't need to fear overpowering the wand core. It made her wonder what the wand was made from because she didn't think there were many wands out there that could handle the sheer volume of magic that Azalea channeled into the pale wand.

Her holly wand had been a powerful wand, after all, and it hadn't been able to handle the full weight of her magic; then again, her magic had been completely wild and her control non-existent at the time. In the end, she chalked the wand's ability to handle her magic down to the fact that it had belonged to Dumbledore previously and in her mind, the old wizard had been far more powerful than her.

Alongside relearning how to use a wand without overpowering everything, Azalea continued practicing transforming into her animagus forms and incorporated her wandless casting and Nen training into the process; in order to slowly build up the ability to use wandless spells and her various Nen abilities while in animal form. It wasn't until Mizuken stumbled across Azalea the tiger using Ren that the older Hunter finally put two and two together and figured out that both the tiger and the cat were actually Azalea.

Azalea had a good laugh over the man's shock before she calmly requested that the knowledge that she could change forms not be passed on to anyone for any reason. The man agreed with her request only after Azalea assured him that she would personally inform Chairman Netero the next time she saw the old man.

Additionally, Azalea worked on consciously controlling what she'd taken to calling her Flash Step; the ability she'd developed to travel soundlessly between two points in the blink of an eye with nothing but a small flash of gold to herald her arrival and departure. She originally thought the ability was apparation but after speaking with the twins, Bill, and Fleur she'd learned that what she was doing was something completely different.

When she used the Flash Step, she felt no discomfort, made no sound, displacement was instantaneous, and produced a brief flash of gold. On the other hand, apparation was supposed to be uncomfortable (like having your body compacted down and stretched through a straw), made a soft pop or a loud crack as the wizard displaced the air (the level of noise dependent upon the skill of the wizard), took any where from five to thirty-five seconds to travel (depending on the distance involved and power levels of the wizard), and had no visible side effects.

The time Azalea and Kurapika spent in each other's arms during the witch's final month of training held an edge of desperation to it as they both knew that their time together was coming to an end (though they still had not yet taken that final step). It didn't help that there was no way to guarantee that they'd ever see one another again once Azalea left. Azalea was the most bothered by fast approaching day of departure; the witch well aware of just how dependent she'd allowed herself to become on the older teen. That didn't mean that Kurapika was looking forward to saying goodbye either and the blond made his displeasure over the situation known by pushing Azalea harder in her training.

Kurapika was bound and determined to make certain Azalea could protect herself since he wouldn't be there to protect her himself.

Mizuken split his time evenly between pushing Kurapika and testing Azalea repeatedly over that final month. Those tests mainly involved Azalea pulling up a specific aura on command and verifying she'd pulled up the correct one using water divination. He also attempted to determine how much control Azalea had over using all six auras at the same time by requiring Azalea to perform six simultaneous water divinations while focusing each aura into a different glass (no easy feat). He even tested Azalea on her ability to use and maintain Ren (something Azalea had had considerable difficulty doing not that long ago) and taught her how to use several advanced Nen techniques (such as Shu, Gyo, In, En, Ryu, Ken, and Ko).

Kurapika, on the other hand, spent his time conjuring chains over and over again; working to perfect the conjuration before he applied the conditions and constraints that he'd set for himself.

Azalea disliked the vow that Kurapika had made in regards to using his chains against the Phantom Troupe almost as much as Kurapika disliked the prophecy to which Azalea had been tied. She understood why Kurapika was willing to place such constraints on himself though and knew she would no more try to stop Kurapika in his quest for vengeance and justice than Kurapika would try to stop her from fulfilling the prophecy. That didn't mean the witch was happy about it; just that she accepted the fact that they each had a destiny they needed to face.

Long before either teen was ready, the thirtieth of July arrived and Mizuken congratulated them on passing their final exam as he pronounced them to be full-fledged Hunters. The man then calmly gathered his things, said his goodbyes, and walked out of their camp right after breakfast; leaving the two teens alone once more. Azalea watched the man go with mixed feelings.

She had grown to trust the man up to a certain point, though Azalea had been less than pleased when she'd learned that the Hunter had manipulated her with his Nen in the beginning in order to prevent Azalea from truly panicking over his presence. She had learned that little tidbit the same day that she learned Mizuken was an Emitter with a partial mastery over Manipulation which he used to discern the truth of someone's words or compel them into opening up and trusting another individual enough to spill their life's story.

Still, Azalea would sort of miss the man and there was no doubt in her mind that the man had been a far better teacher than Snape, Umbridge, Lockhart, Quirrell, Binns, or Trelawney had ever been. On the other hand, she was quite pleased to know that she'd have Kurapika all to herself for their final two days together.

* * *

Long standing tradition had Azalea waking up a half an hour before midnight later that night and she silently slipped free of Kurapika's embrace and threw on a pair of pants and one of Kurapika's shirts before she silently padded out of the bedroom. Fawkes gave a sleepy trill of inquiry as she crossed the living room but Azalea softly assured the phoenix that she was fine before she slipped out of the tent. The soon to be seventeen year old then made her way to the stumps that were arranged around the cold campfire pit, sat down on the ground, and settled back against one of the logs.

Hedwig swooped down out of the night to land on her knee as soon as she was comfortable and Azalea murmured a soft greeting to her first feathered familiar as she gently scratched the owl beneath her beak. After a few minutes, she used a time spell to conjure a set of fiery numbers in the air beside her to count down the minutes remaining until midnight and her birthday. She tipped her head back at that point and stared up at the starry sky as she mentally reflected on her coming majority, the past year, and the long stretch of birthdays she could recall from years past.

It was something she'd done every year during the minutes leading up to midnight on the night before her birthday.

"Is something wrong, Zalea?" Kurapika inquired softly as he stuck his head out of the tent after he been unable to find her inside and noted the witch's current position; Azalea's departure from their shared bed having woken the blond.

"No; just following tradition," Azalea replied as she briefly glanced towards the older teen before returning her eyes to the stars. "For as long as I can remember, I've always greeted my birthday at the stroke of midnight in order to celebrate the fact that I was officially turning one year older. It was the only opportunity I had to celebrate my birthday when I was living with the Dursleys and celebrating it while they slept allowed me to get through the rest of the day; no matter what my relatives called me or how many extra chores they gave me. Since I turned eight, the minutes leading up to midnight have become a time of reflection for me; that was especially true after I reentered the wizarding world six years ago."

"Does it bother you to greet your birthday with so few people this year?"

"No; the only one who has ever greeted the day with me has been Hedwig."

"Oh, would you prefer that I leave you be then?"

"No, I don't mind you joining me. If I'd known that I'd woken you up when I got up, then I wouldn't have crawled out of bed; I just didn't want to bother you."

"That is a really annoying habit that you have," Kurapika complained with a trace of mild exasperation as he exited the tent and made his way over to sit beside the witch.

"What's annoying?"

"The way you constantly worry about other people's feelings without bothering to consider your own."

"Sorry, habit."

"That's another thing that annoys me!"

"What is?"

"Constantly apologizing for everything."

"Sorry, that's a habit too," Azalea retorted without an ounce of shame and more than a little amusement only to have Kurapika grab her in a headlock and give her a noogie. Their antics promptly disturbed Hedwig who transferred herself to the stump Azalea had been leaning against with a small bark of complaint.

"Incorrigible brat."

"You wouldn't have me any other way."

"Actually, I'd take you any way I could get you but I have grown quite fond of you as you are now."

Azalea chuckled as she settled herself so that she was lying perpendicular to the older teen with her head in Kurapika's lap. A glance at the glowing numbers hovering off to the left above her let her know there were only fifteen minutes left until midnight. She sighed softly as she draped on arm over her stomach and the other one reached up to slip her arm around Kurapika's back. Her sigh soon turned to a humming purr as Kurapika buried his fingers in Azalea's messy locks and began massaging the witch's skull.

A comfortable silence fell over the two of them and Azalea found herself reflecting on her relationship with Kurapika as her spell continued to countdown the time remaining until midnight. She soon reached the conclusion that she was glad that she'd not held herself at a distance like she'd originally intended to do. It wasn't just the physical aspects of their confusing and complicated relationship that she enjoyed either.

She'd come to appreciate the way Kurapika pushed her into improving herself, how the older teen could read her moods, knew when to give Azalea a bit of space or when she needed cheering up, and the fact she felt comfortable when she was with the blond no matter what they were doing.

A soft bark from Hedwig let Azalea know that she had less than two minutes left until midnight and she lifted her arm from her stomach to draw the image of a fiery birthday cake in the air above her complete with seventeen candles (the witch using a wandless variation of the same spell that Tom Riddle's shade had used down in the Chamber of Secrets to show Azalea how his name was an anagram of the phrase I am Lord Voldemort). She finished drawing the cake with just seconds to spare and she silently counted the last few remaining seconds while she focused on her hopes and dreams for the first time in years.

The moment her counter disappeared, Azalea took a deep breath and murmured a soft, "Happy birthday to me," before she blew out the candles on the hand drawn cake; the light breeze causing the entire cake to fade from view.

"Happy birthday, kitten," Kurapika added a heartbeat later as he leaned down to kiss Azalea softly on the lips while Hedwig echoed the sentiment with her usual snuffling barks.

When Kurapika pulled back, Azalea sat up to murmur her thanks to Hedwig and give her a kiss on the beak before she turned to give Kurapika a proper kiss. Just before she lost herself in the swell of emotions that the older teen always stirred in her, Azalea's last thought was that it had been nice to share the moment with Kurapika as well as with her familiar. Half an hour later, the two of them retreated back into the tent to return to their bed where Azalea curled up in Kurapika's arms before drifting back to sleep.

* * *

**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	27. Matters x of the x Heart

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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**CHAPTER WARNING:**

_This chapter contains several hints and references to activities of a sexual nature (including intercourse) and one brief citrusy flavored scene, though I did not go into great detail. If you are uncomfortable reading scenes of that nature, you may want to skip the section of this chapter that falls between the line breaks. _

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Chapter Twenty-Seven: Matters x of the x Heart

Dobby and Kreacher woke the two of them up later that morning with breakfast in bed and an elf-made gift each from each of them for Azalea. Dobby gave Azalea another dozen knitted socks; each individual sock done in a different color with different patterns (meaning there wasn't a single matching pair amongst the lot). Kreacher had instead opted to clean, alter, and repair some of Regulus's old silk shirts and had given them to Azalea (the highest compliment the elf could pay her due to how close the elf had been to Sirius's brother).

Azalea thanked both elves and promptly selected something to wear from each of their gifts; the witch ending up in an unbuttoned emerald green shirt that brought out the green in her eyes and a mismatched pair of socks (one dark blue with white owls and yellow stars stitched on it and the other bright yellow with red phoenixes and orange flames).

After their meal, the two teens decided to spend the rest of the day in bed spooned together soaking up each other's presence as they both secretly feared that this would be the last chance they'd have together; something that neither of them were all too pleased about.

"Zalea…?" Kurapika called softly to get her attention as he pulled her a bit closer to him and nuzzled the back of her neck after they'd been laying there for over an hour.

"Hmm…?"

"What am I to you?"

"I'm not sure I understand what it is that you are asking me," Azalea stated in confusion as she pulled away just far enough so she could twist around to search the eighteen year old's face for some clue as to what he was thinking.

"What do you see me as? How would you define our relationship?"

Azalea searched Kurapika's face for a minute longer before she dropped her eyes to his chest, caught her lower lip between her teeth, and gave the question serious consideration. It didn't take her long to reach the conclusion that she still couldn't define their relationship because she wasn't certain where she stood with Kurapika. She well remembered his declaration that he was not willing to make any commitments and that he had no intention of becoming emotionally involved in any kind of relationship.

She didn't think anything had changed in that regards over the last six months; no matter how much she might wish otherwise.

Sighing, Azalea closed her eyes as she finally answered, "I don't know how to define what we are or what we have. I don't have any experience in this kind of thing. I know I think of you as something of a friend but calling you a friend doesn't seem adequate because you are so much more than just a friend. Yet we're not exactly dating, so I can't call you my boyfriend and while I suppose I could technically call you my… my lover, calling you such would imply that we'd shared far more than just a simple physical relationship."

"And what is it you would like me to be?"

"What I want doesn't matter," Azalea replied with a trace of bitterness.

"Why would you think…?"

"Because you made it perfectly clear that you wanted nothing more than a casual relationship," Azalea reminded him as she wriggled out of his arms and rolled away from him so he couldn't see how much that detail hurt her. She wanted so much more from him than he was willing to give and it wouldn't have been fair of her to ask in the first place because of the prophecy hanging over her head and his need to find justice for his clan.

"What are you talking about? When did I…?"

"When we returned to camp after my wand burned up in my hand, after you chased me into the bathroom; you came right out and said you were only interested in a casual physical relationship and that you didn't want or need anything more."

"Oh, kitten," Kurapika murmured softly as he reached out, pulled her back against him, and buried his nose in her hair while Azalea held herself stiffly; the witch torn between wanting to be in his arms and needing to distance herself from the pain she was currently feeling. "I was such a fool that day, I desperately wanted to believe that my interest in you was nothing more than a passing fancy; just like the small handful of other girls that had caught my attention through the years. I should have known better; you were never anything at all like the others. I thought I'd shown you that these past few months even if I was never brave enough to say it."

"Kura…?"

"I don't want to lose you, Azalea," Kurapika confessed softly as he shifted so he could press several kisses to the back of her neck. "I want to keep you by my side, to make you mine now and always, and to hold you forever but most of all I want you to love me as much as I love you. Knowing you will walk away from me tonight is killing me inside and I hate the mere thought that you might forget me the moment you are gone when your memory will haunt me for the rest of my life. And I want you to promise me that you will come back to me… to promise me that you will not die once you leave me… and to promise me that you will wait for me."

Azalea didn't dare breathe as she lay there in Kurapika's embrace as his words echoed through her mind; _I want you to love me as much as I love you_. She trembled as the weight of those twelve simple words hit her like a bludger. Closing her eyes, Azalea looked back over the past six months and saw the things that Kurapika said and did in a whole new light as those words continued to echo in her thoughts; _I want you to love me as much as I love you_.

She saw again the way he had comforted her after a nightmare, how he had made certain she took care of herself, how he pushed and encouraged her to improve herself, and how he held her tenderly in his arms each night (long before they'd begun to explore their physical relationship). She soon recalled the conversation they'd had on the evening she'd first transformed in her cat form. When he'd come right out and said that he wanted to claim her as his. And the fact that she'd been more than willing to let him; that she'd wanted him to claim her.

She also remembered how lost and alone she'd felt during those three nights she'd spent in the wizarding world after the battle and while waiting to attend Dumbledore's funeral. How she'd been unable to sleep peacefully without his familiar and comforting presence near at hand.

She wanted him and she needed him but did that mean she loved him? Or did she just love what he represented? Could she ever find another who would make her feel the way Kurapika did? Would she even want to? No. There was no other. But did she love him? She didn't know but she did know that she never wanted to forget everything they had shared. Nor did she want to leave him. Could she give him what he wanted? Yes; she'd give him anything he asked for.

"What do you want me to be, kitten?" Kurapika asked softly after the silence had drawn out for several minutes. "How much of yourself are you willing to give me? How much do you want from me?"

"Anything and everything," Azalea whispered thickly as she turned in his arms and buried her face against his shoulder. "There is nothing I would not give to you if you asked it of me, I would give anything to know that saying goodbye tonight will not be the end, and I would give you my heart if I knew how. I want to believe that what I feel for you is love but I have nothing to compare it to… I just know that there is no other I want and that no other could ever make me feel the way you do."

Kurapika pulled back, tucked a finger beneath her chin to lift her face, and brushed a tender kiss against her lips before he asked, "And if I wish to take you right here, right now and make you mine; will you give yourself to me?"

"Yes."

* * *

Kurapika's eyes shimmered scarlet and brown as he searched her eyes for a brief moment before he captured her mouth with his in a passionate kiss. Azalea closed her eyes and let the rest of the world fall away as she focused all of her attention on the feel of Kurapika's mouth ravishing hers and the feel of his firm body pressed up against hers. Kurapika then shifted them so that he was laying on top of her as he gently slid himself between her legs and deepened their kiss. Azalea arched into him and ran her hands down his side; letting her fingernails lightly drag across his skin.

For the next several minutes, Azalea became lost in a haze of passion as Kurapika worshipped her body with his hands and mouth. Her body writhed and arched needfully in response to his touches as her magic slipped free of her core to flood her body with heat that fanned the flames of her desire. Soft moans of ecstasy slipped from her mouth as his efforts soon pushed her over the precipice and sent a wave of pleasure through her flushed body.

After a few minutes, Kurapika moved back up to cover her body with his as positioned himself against Azalea's entrance before he tenderly commanded, "Open your eyes, kitten; I want to watch your eyes as I make you mine."

Azalea willingly complied and found herself entrapped by a pair of intense scarlet eyes and she softly cried out in pain as he breached her maidenhead as gently as he could. She slowly forgot about the brief burning pain of losing her virginity as Kurapika tenderly kissed her and held himself perfectly still while her body grew accustomed to the feel of him inside of her.

"Are you alright now, kitten?" Kurapika asked as he let go of one hand so he could gently wipe away the few tears that had slipped free of Azalea's eyes and Azalea took a shaky breath before nodding slowly. "Then open your eyes again for me, love, I'm not finished making you mine yet and I still want to see those emerald eyes of yours darken with passion as I take you."

The seventeen year old witch opened her eyes again as requested and trembled as she felt Kurapika shift his weight when he propped himself up on his elbows, threaded his fingers through hers as he lifted her hands above her head, and lightly pressed his forehead to hers so that they were nose to nose. She trembled again and let out a soft gasp when she felt him begin slowly thrusting in and out as he continued to hold her gaze. Azalea's eyes soon glittered with golden dust motes once more as her magic thrummed wildly beneath her skin in renewed passion.

Sweat soon soaked both of their bodies as they moved together in an ever increasing rhythm as they raced towards a mutual climax. The two lovers would find release as their carnal dance reached a crescendo and they let out breathless cries of ecstasy as they locked their hips together. As waves of pleasure assaulted them both, Azalea's vision would be filled with nothing but scarlet fire and gold as she lost herself in Kurapika's burning eyes while her magic swirled out of control around them.

Kurapika released her hands as he lightly settled his weight onto Azalea a moment later without withdrawing himself from inside of her and nipped lightly at her neck before he growled out a possessive, "Mine."

"Yours," Azalea agreed breathily as she shivered in pleasure at the thrill she felt over that simple declaration and her magic thrummed in agreement before it slowly sank back into her core as her heart rate slowly returned to normal.

"Are you in any pain, my kitten?" Kurapika inquired several minutes later as he lifted himself off of her just enough so he could study her face.

"Mmm… no, no pain."

Kurapika hummed in acknowledgement before he captured her mouth once more as he gently began moving inside of her again once he'd recovered from their earlier activities. They'd make love another three times that morning before the two of them curled up in a tangle of limbs beneath the covers and took a short nap.

* * *

The elves would wake them up for a late lunch of crackers topped with an assortment of cheeses and meats, raw vegetables with onion and ranch dips, and a bowl of fresh fruit and melon cubes in whipped cream. After the meal, the two of them shared a bath for the first time and ended up making love twice more in the bathroom before they returned to the bedroom where they found the bed freshly made. As they lay nestled together beneath the sheets once more, Azalea tentatively asked, "What happens now?"

"Can you be a little more specific, kitten?"

"What happens to us now? Where is it that we stand now? What exactly is it that we have? And where exactly is it we go from here?"

"You do know how to ask the difficult questions; don't you, kitten?" Kurapika sighed as he pressed a kiss to her neck just behind her left ear. "I guess the answer to all of those questions really depends upon what you want and on the duty we both have to bear. What kind of a relationship do you want us to have, Zalea? Are you willing to wait for me?"

"I don't want to picture a life without you in it."

Kurapika shifted a bit and held his closed left hand out over Azalea for a moment. The witch felt a brief spike of Nen before her attention was caught by a glimmer of light reflecting from gold as Kurapika opened his hand to drop a small, thin gold ring that bounced and swung back and forth like a pendulum from a delicate gold chain that was attached to a plain gold band around Kurapika's left ring finger. The ring itself was beautiful in its simplicity; made entirely from Nen, it was solid gold in color and had a clear heart shaped crystal that was about the size of a two caret gemstone filled with what looked like scarlet flames nestled inside of a blooming lily of gold; the band made from the stem of the flower.

"Kurapika…?" Azalea breathed as she stared at the ring gently swinging on the end of the chain.

"Are you willing to wait for me; no matter how long it takes for me to avenge my clan? Are you willing to save yourself for me and me alone; even if it takes years before we see one another again? Are you willing to return to my side after you have fulfilled the prophecy; no matter how long it takes? Are you willing to show the world that you belong to me by doing me the honor of wearing my ring? Will you promise yourself to me; for now and forever?"

Azalea's mouth went dry as she thought about exactly what it was that Kurapika was asking of her while she continued to stare at the glittering ring. After a moment, she swallowed around the lump in her throat as she turned so that she could search Kurapika's face in order to gauge his sincerity and she soon found herself blushing the moment she found herself caught up in scarlet eyes glittering with some unnamed emotion that danced alongside the flames of passion she could see. Her brow crinkled for a moment in thought as she reluctantly tore her gaze from Kurapika's eyes to glance at the ring hanging from the chain and thought about what it represented.

She then thought about what she wanted and what she still had to do in order to complete the prophecy before turned to face Kurapika once more as she replied with certainty, "Yes."

Kurapika's eyes darkened with desire as he leaned forward and brushed a soft kiss to Azalea's lips before he sat up and took hold of her left hand as he collected the chained ring that was still attached to his left hand. He then slipped the ring onto her finger and as it slid into place, Azalea felt the familiar heat of Kurapika's aura wrapped tightly around the ring on her finger just before it snaked through her arm straight to her heart. Two minutes later, the fire was gone and all that remained was the comforting weight of the ring on her finger and Azalea instinctively knew that she'd never be able to remove the ring; not that she wanted to, mind you.

Oddly enough, the ring was still connected to the ring on Kurapika's left finger by a delicate gold chain that she couldn't actually feel but she immediately put it out of her mind as Kurapika kissed her tenderly. When he pulled back, Kurapika brought her left hand up so that he could press a kiss to the ring as he met her eyes once more and stated, "In return, I promise to do everything humanly possible to return to you once I have avenged my clan and retrieved their stolen eyes, to never seek or accept physical gratification from another for any reason, to welcome you back to my side once you have fulfilled your duties to the wizarding world, and to always treasure the precious gift you have given me; yourself."

Heat briefly flared around Azalea's finger once again and this time, when it faded the chain connecting the two rings had disappeared completely; leaving just the two rings. Kurapika then wrapped her in his arms again and held her close as he explained a few of the properties of the ring he'd just given her.

"So long as we both live, the rings will remain on our fingers; a visible reminder of our promises. If one of us dies, the rings will both turn black for a full twenty-four hours before crumbling to dust; freeing the survivor from their promises. If you were to experience another one of your temporary deaths, the rings will turn back to gold the moment you are revived (so long as it is within twenty-four hours). And if one of us knowingly and willingly breaks one of our promises, then both rings will break."

"Didn't Mizuken say that in order to conjure an object such as these rings with the abilities you've given them, you have to apply a condition in order for them to work properly?"

"Yes."

"What did you…?"

"My heart; you hold my heart in your hands, kitten," Kurapika answered softly. "Should the rings ever crumble or break, I will never again be able to love another; for you will take my heart with you should you die and my heart would shatter beyond repair if you willingly break your promises."

"Why would you…?"

"Because I love you, Zalea; and as far as I'm concerned there will never be another who could ever take your place in my heart."

The ring on Azalea's finger suddenly felt heavy as the enormity of all that it represented hit her. Knowing she literally held Kurapika's heart in the palm of her hands, that he trusted her with something so precious, frightened the witch. The damage she could do to him if she made the smallest mistakes, if she said or did something that could be misconstrued as breaking her promise, was overwhelming. At the same time, knowing she meant that much to him took her breath away and filled her with amazement and that nameless emotion that always rose up inside of her when she thought of Kurapika and everything he meant to her.

"What's wrong, kitten; why are you crying?" Kurapika asked as he reached out to gently wipe away the tears that had slipped down her face.

Azalea simply shook her head, there was nothing wrong and no words could explain exactly what it was that she was feeling right that moment. She then leaned forward to kiss Kurapika, pouring everything she couldn't put into words into that kiss. When she surfaced for breath several minutes later, she dropped her head onto his shoulder as he cradled her tenderly in his arms while rubbing one hand up and down her back. The two of them then dozed in each other's arms for about an hour after that before they spent the rest of the afternoon making love several more times.

Supper would be eaten in the living room around five in the evening; both of them naked as the day they were born (bar the leather cord and ring Azalea never took off and their new rings) while they lounged on the couch. The elves had gone all out, making all of Azalea's favorites; including a large treacle tart to go with the rather fancy (if small) birthday cake that they'd made for her. The cake actually looked like a bouquet of lilies and roses with each flower made from a different flavor of cake and frosted in such a way that they looked like real flowers. Azalea almost felt guilty for eating the beautiful (and tasty) creation.

After the meal, Azalea dug into her book bag for the charmed velvet box that held the jewelry set that Sirius had given her for her fifteenth birthday. Ever since Kurapika had given her the ring that he'd created, she'd wanted to give him something equally meaningful to remind him of her and to let him know that she cared deeply for him (even if she wasn't entirely certain whether or not she loved him). On her way back to the couch, Azalea collected her new wand (Dumbledore's old wand) from the pocket of her graphorn cloak.

"What have you got there, kitten?"

"In the wizarding world, there are five birthdays that hold great significance," Azalea began as she retook her seat beside Kurapika and folded her legs beneath her. "A child's first birthday is important because the first year of a child's life represents their most vulnerable age and a high number of magical babies used to perish before their first birthday for no apparent reason. It wasn't until late in the eighteenth century that it was discovered the deaths were caused by a toxin found in the meat of animals that consumed magical ragweed."

"There's now a potion that will neutralize the toxin but that first birthday still remains significant and some pureblood families will not even name a child until the day of his or her first birthday. A child's godparent is also named on their first birthday and usually it is a godmother that is assigned for young witches and a godfather for young wizards. The only reason I ended up with a godfather instead of a godmother is because my father promised Sirius that he would be the godparent of his first born child and so I ended up with a godfather."

"The next birthday that is seen as important is a child's eleventh birthday as that marks the day when a child's magical core stabilizes enough for them to begin their magical education. After that, a magical child's fifteenth birthday is the next mile stone as that is the age at which a child is no longer considered a child. It is also the age at which most witches and wizards finish going through puberty (though there are rare cases where late bloomers will not finish until their sixteenth or seventeenth birthday)."

"A young magical will then come of age on their seventeenth birthday; an adult in the eyes of the magical world and able to shoulder the responsibilities that come with reaching adulthood. Seventeen is also the age at which most magicals enter their final year of education as they prepare themselves to join society; though a few won't reach that point until after they turn eighteen simply because of what month their birthday falls in. There is no significant magical meaning associated with one's seventeenth; it's just a social mile-stone in the magical society but important nonetheless."

"The last significant birthday, is a witch or wizard's twenty-fifth birthday as that is when they reach magical maturity; in other words, once a witch or wizard reaches age twenty-five their magic is as strong as it will ever be and there is no more room for growth or change. That doesn't mean they have reached their full potential, just that their full potential has been set."

"As fascinating as that is, kitten, what does all that have to do with what you have in your hand?"

"I'm getting there, Kura; I need to you to understand the significance of what I want to do before I actually do it," Azalea replied as she briefly met his eyes before returning her gaze to the box she held in her hands. "Now, I've reached four of those mile markers; at age one, Sirius Black became my godfather. At age eleven, I was invited to attend Hogwarts in order to learn how to control my magic. At fifteen, I officially left childhood behind and today, at seventeen, I have officially reached adulthood. The gifts given on those days hold almost as much significance as the dates themselves."

"I don't know what I received on my first birthday or if that gift even survived the night my parents died but for my eleventh birthday, I received Hedwig and she is very important to me. The man who gave her to me holds a special place in my heart because he was my first friend, he was the one that first introduced me to the wizarding world, and he's never hesitated to defend my honor. He was also a close friend of my parents. And while he might have inadvertently put my life in danger on more than one occasion and I don't think he could keep a secret if his life depended on it, he means well; and I've always seen him as more of an overly large child than an adult."

"I received far more gifts for my fifteenth birthday but the one I've treasured the most is the one my godfather gave me; and not just because it was an expensive gift. His gift acknowledged the fact that he no longer saw me as a little girl that needed to be sheltered and protected. That was important to me because he was the closest thing I ever had to a parent; a substitute parent that my parents had personally selected to take care of me and watch over me in the event of they died before I became an adult. And while he may not have been there for me until after my third year, he was and still is a hero in my eyes because he gave me hope; he represented everything I'd been missing in my life since my parents died."

"Losing him hurt but losing what he represented to me hurt even more. The grief and guilt was part of what sent me to seek my Hunter's License but it was mostly a desperate need to find the strength to protect those I held dear that saw me find the courage to walk onto the ship that day," Azalea confessed as she ran her fingers over the velvet box. "I never again want to lose someone close to me because I was too weak, though losing my three best friends to betrayal after I'd sacrificed so much to grow stronger in order to protect them hurt almost as much."

Azalea fell silent for a moment as she fiddled with the box a moment longer before opening it to reveal the exquisite jewelry set that Sirius had given to her. The rubies glittered as the light fell on them for the first time in almost two years and Azalea swallowed the sob that rose up in the back of her throat as she recalled the first time she'd seen the pieces on her fifteenth birthday. Reaching out with one hand, she gently traced her finger over each of the pieces as she recalled the beaming smile Sirius had worn when he'd hauled her to the Library in Grimmauld Place before breakfast on her fifteenth birthday in order to give her the set.

Kurapika let out a soft whistle of appreciation when she turned the box around a moment later so that he could see what was inside.

The bracelet was made up of half inch long rubies that had been cut into diamond shaped links that were intertwined together to form a chain and chased with gold along the sides. The necklace was a choker made up of three rows of similar ruby and gold links that were half the size of the ones that made up the bracelet. Dangling from a thin gold chain front the center on the front of the choker was a large ruby cut in the shape of a diamond and set in a frame woven from gold vines tastefully sewn with tiny gold lilies and roses. The earrings each had a single half inch long three-dimensional diamond shaped ruby threaded onto a short gold chain.

"I tried to give them back the moment I saw what he'd given me because I thought they were far too nice and far too expensive but he refused. At the time, Sirius told me that I was a young lady now and that all young ladies deserve to own beautiful things that reflect the beauty within them. He then told me that he'd chosen this set just because the rubies are more red than scarlet, because red and gold are the colors of Gryffindor, and because my birthstone is the ruby. He also teasingly told me that he had wanted to buy me the emerald set to match my eyes but that he just couldn't stand the thought of me wearing Slytherin colors."

"I've never actually worn any of the pieces, let alone taken them out of the box. In fact, you are the first person I've shown them to and the only person I've ever even mentioned them to. I'd been too afraid of losing them and worried that my aunt or cousin would take them from me if they knew I had something so valuable in my possession. I also didn't want to see the jealousy on Ginny's face if I wore them at Hogwarts because her family couldn't afford to buy her high quality jewelry for her fifteenth birthday."

"And lastly I didn't want to end up just wearing part of the set the first time I put them on; because I was not allowed to pierce my ears growing up," Azalea finished as she gently lifted both of the earrings out of the box before she closed the lid with a soft snap.

"Kitten…?" Kurapika inquired as he furrowed his brow and glanced between the earrings in her hands and her face.

"As you can imagine, knowing what you do about them now, this set has been one of my most important possessions these last two years," Azalea stated as she picked up her wand and began casting a series of obscure charms and spells that she'd learned through the years over both of earrings she held in her hand. In between spells, she hesitantly began explaining what it was she wanted to do. "The ring you gave me is just as important as the rubies that Padfoot gave me and holds just as much, if not more, meaning. I don't want to leave without giving you something equally precious in return."

"You've already given me something precious, kitten; you don't have to give me anything else…"

"I know I don't have to but I want to; I don't want to go without leaving something of me behind that will remind you of me; something that marks you as mine… just like your ring marks me as yours. I couldn't think of anything better than each of us wearing one of the earrings that my godfather gave me. And, in a way, gifting you with one of the earrings that symbolized my leaving behind my childhood in my godfather's eyes is symbolic of the blessing my godfather gave me for the choices that eventually led me to giving myself to you."

"Azalea…" Kurapika breathed in understanding as she glanced up briefly with glittering gold and emerald eyes that were filled with desire and determination.

The witch set her wand down a moment later and lifted the two earrings that now hummed with magic as the two ruby pendants glittered with a soft inner light. Azalea then nervously bit her lip as she used her Conjurer's aura to create a pair of sharp needles and rose up on her knees as she offered one needle and one earring to Kurapika who took them even as he gave her a puzzled look.

"A couple of the charms I placed on the earrings need blood to activate them," Azalea tentatively explained. "And since neither one of us has pierced ears I thought we could pierce each other's ear for both the blood and for the piercing. Both of us taking part in the process would also satisfy one of the ritualistic conditions needed to bind the two earrings to us and each other."

"What are the other conditions required?"

"There's only one other condition that needed to be met; the binding requires a willing sacrifice, which in this case is the mutual spilling of our blood."

"You know, I couldn't help but picture pagan priests and virginal princesses when I heard you say the word sacrifice."

Azalea laughed softly at that and felt a little of her nervousness fall away as she moved up to straddle Kurapika's lap before she asked, "Which ear would you rather I pierce? Actually, do you even want to wear one of the earrings? I probably should have asked you that sooner and here I am just assuming…"

"Hush, kitten; I am honored that you want to claim me as yours and I will gladly wear your gift. And it doesn't matter which ear you choose to put the earring in."

Azalea nodded and after a moment's debate, chose his left ear. She then used one of the conjured needles to pierce his ear and waited for him to pierce her left ear in return with the remaining needle. Azalea then showed him where to smear a drop of her blood on both pendant and post of the earring he would wear by smearing his blood in the proper places on the earring she would wear. She then canceled the conjurations and on the count of three they both inserted each other's earring into place. Azalea's magic then rushed forward as she activated the last of the charms; healing the newly formed piercings and permanently locking the earrings into place so that no one could remove them (unless they cut off the ear).

Kurapika leaned forward to kiss her briefly before he huskily asked, "Will you tell me about the spells you cast on the earrings before we put them on?"

"The first one was a locater spell similar to the one that I cast on you and the others to keep track of everyone while we were on Zevil Island," Azalea started as she shifted until she was sitting sideways on his lap so she could lean against his chest. "It will allow me to find you once I've finished dealing with Voldemort and the wizarding world. The second one was a kind of monitoring spell that monitors emotions. Whenever one of us feels a strong emotion, the earring of the other will react; positive emotions will make the pendants heat up while negative emotions will make them grow cold and the stronger the emotion, the more noticeable the reaction will be."

"The monitoring spell will also cause the earrings to hum when we think of one another; like holding a jarful of buzzing bees next to your ear though you won't actually hear any sound. The next spell I cast was one to make the ruby glow; it won't light up the dark or anything, just a subtle glow to bring out the color of the pendant. The rest of the spells were those needed to tie the two earrings together and bind them to us."

"They already had protection spells woven into them when Sirius bought them; spells to protect them from damage, to keep them from tarnishing, and to protect the wearer from getting them snagged on things. So I didn't need to add those. I wish I could have added a few charms and spells to offer you protection but there is only so much magic you can tie into a small gemstone before it shatters."

"I think they're perfect just the way they are," Kurapika murmured as he pressed a kiss to her right temple.

"Even if I were to tell you that they'll never come off? Not even if I die? That someone would have to cut them free to remove either of them?"

"Especially knowing that; because now I know I will never have to fear losing it through my own negligence," Kurapika assured her as he turned her face to brush a soft kiss to her lips. "Now, where did you put the necklace and bracelet?"

"They're still in the box, why?"

"You said you wanted never wanted to just wear part of the set the first time you wore them and I don't think you should compromise that desire now. So, if you'll pass me the box, I will help you put on the final two pieces."

She hesitated only for a second before she leaned back and snagged the box from where she'd left it sitting on the couch when she'd taken the earrings out. She then sat up and passed the box to Kurapika. He took out the bracelet first and placed it on her left wrist after asking her which arm she wished to wear it on. After that he carefully slipped the choker around her neck (careful not to tangle it in her hair or on the leather cord that held the cracked ring) and secured the clasp before he asked her to stand up for him. Kurapika took a moment to inspect her before he declared that the rubies complimented her beauty perfectly.

Azalea decided in that moment that she would leave the bracelet and necklace on to remind herself that Kurapika thought she looked beautiful wearing nothing but her rubies and his ring (the ring Dumbledore had left for her not even crossing her mind at that point).

* * *

**10-31-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	28. Separation x and x Confessions

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN1:** _If I recall correctly, this is the first chapter in which Fleur has actual lines in this story. And the only reason I am pointing that out is because I chose to alter the spelling of certain words to reflect her accent. Now, before you start to worry about her speech being all but impossible to follow, the only changes I made was to replace the 'th' with a 'z' in her dialogue and only those words where replacing 'th' with 'z' was cumbersome or difficult to determine the word were left alone. That was the most obvious way to give her an accent. _

_I know some people also drop the 'h' had the beginning of a word or replace certain 'i's in a word with 'ee's as well but I figured Fleur's English had to have improved some since Azalea's fourth year. She did, after all, take the job at Gringotts to help her improve her English according to canon. In any case, I figured that focusing on just one aspect of a French accent would be far less painful to read (and write) while at the same time making her accent stand out._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Separation x and x Confessions

Azalea reluctantly pulled her graphorn cloak over the black pants and silver shirt she was wearing and shouldered her book bag. Kurapika watched her from where he lay beneath the covers on the bed; the blond not once taking his eyes off of her as she'd dressed. They'd spent another two hours making love after they'd pierced each other's ear and taken another shower together before they'd curled up in bed together to spend the last hour and a half they had together in each other's arms.

The witch's hands had trembled as she dressed herself; her emotions and her tears just barely held in check as the knowledge that she was leaving pressed down on her. Swallowing her tears, Azalea turned to take one last long look at her boyfriend. A glance down at the ring on her finger had a small smile curling her lips as she silently added, _my lover_. Hedwig landed on her right shoulder just a minute later; the slight weight of the bird pulling her out of her reflection and she glanced back up to find Kurapika watching her with brown eyes tinged with scarlet.

The smile on her face turned sad and trembled as she reached up to blow him one last kiss; knowing that if she walked up and kissed him like she wanted to do that she'd never leave. The icy numbness radiating from just below her left ear coupled with a constant buzzing hum let her know that Kurapika was feeling just as torn about her leaving as she was.

"Dobby will take care of the tent once you are ready to leave," Azalea murmured as she clutched the edges of her cloak in her hands. "He'll… he'll answer your call if you ever need him or if you need to get a hold of me."

"I will miss you, my love."

"I wish I didn't have to leave."

"I know."

"If you ask me to stay…"

"As much as I want to, I won't. It wouldn't be fair of me to ask you to turn your back on the few friends you have left in the wizarding world. And you and I both know that you'd never forgive yourself if you abandoned the innocents to Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"I know… I just wish…"

"I know, love."

"I will miss you more than words could ever say."

"Stay safe, my kitten," Kurapika ordered as he sat up a little higher.

"Be careful out there, Kura," Azalea insisted in return as she unconsciously took a step closer. "When you see the others in September, tell them I said hello and that I miss them too."

"I will."

Azalea nodded as her throat seized up and made it impossible for her to speak. Fawkes appeared in a flash of flames above her head just seconds later and she reluctantly reached up to take his tale feathers in her hand as she continued to hold Kurapika's gaze.

Flames swirled around the small trio as Kurapika's final words reached Azalea's ears, "I love you, Azalea."

The inside of the tent vanished in a wash of bright flames a split second after Kurapika's words reached Azalea's ears and when she could see clearly once more, Azalea found herself standing in the middle of her bedroom at No. Four Privet Drive as Fawkes settled down onto her unoccupied shoulder. She stared around the sunlit room she'd not seen in well over a year as she tried not to think of the young man she'd just left behind. Once she'd collected herself, she left her room and headed down the stairs to the first floor.

The unnatural silence that filled the house let her know that Dumbledore had made good on his promise to have the Dursleys taken into protective custody. At least that was what she hoped the silence meant.

Sighing, Azalea approached the cupboard under the stairs and mechanically began undoing the locks. Her hands paused on the very last deadbolt and started shaking as she recalled the conversation she'd had with Kurapika towards the end of the Third Phase when she'd accidentally let slip that her aunt used to lock her in her cupboard. After a moment, she sighed again and pushed that conversation out of her mind as she finished unlocking the door and opened it to reveal her school trunk covered in a thin layer of dust beneath a pile of old shoes, old clothes, and a handful boxes.

Huffing at the mess (knowing her aunt and uncle would blame her for the state of the closet), Azalea pulled out her wand and used it to clear away the dust, clean and fold the clothes, stack the shoes off to one side, and lift the boxes out of the way. A letter slipped out from between two of the boxes as they shifted and caught the witch's attention as the folded slip of paper had her first name written on the outside of it. Picking it up, she unfolded the paper and read the rather short letter.

_Girl,_

_I won't apologize for not wanting you. I also won't apologize for hating your world. If  
you had been normal, then I might have forgiven your mother for getting herself blown  
up and saddling us with you but you never were. If you go the way your mother went, I  
won't forgive you either._

_The boxes are full of things that were left behind by others and they are yours. I expect  
you to take them with you when you leave. Anything left behind when we return will be  
thrown out in the rubbish._

_Aunt Petunia_

"I suppose she must have cared about me in her own way," Azalea mused out loud as she grimaced down at the letter she held in her hands. "After all, she basically just told me that she wouldn't forgive me if I get myself killed."

Shaking her head, Azalea tucked the note into her pocket before she began the tedious process of tucking the boxes (which she figured held nothing but junk that her aunt didn't want) into her book bag. She would have just used her wand to shrink them but figured it was safer to avoid using magic on them until after she'd seen what was inside of them in case the magic might damage any of the items. That didn't stop her from using a temporary stretching charm on the mouth of the book bag to make it easier for her to get them in though.

Once the boxes were packed, Azalea pulled her trunk out and straightened up the rest of the closet before she closed the door and relocked the many locks. She then took a moment to walk through the house that she'd grown up in, knowing that this would probably be the last time she'd ever set foot inside of the place. At the end of her little tour, she ended up back in the small bedroom where she'd slept for five years of her life and took the time to search her old hiding places for anything she might have left behind on accident.

There were a couple of broken quills and an old draft of a History assignment in the old desk, a pair of Aunt Petunia's old socks that had been given to her in the wardrobe, and a couple of knuts beneath the floorboards under the bed. She didn't hesitate to vanish the quills, assignment, and socks before tucking the money into her pocket. Another several waves of her wand straightened up the bed, cleared away the dust that had collected in the room over the last year, and organized all of Dahlia's broken toys and discarded possessions that had occupied Azalea's bedroom for years.

She then tucked away the wand and returned downstairs to gather up her trunk before asking Fawkes to take her back to Fred and George's apartment above their shop. Within seconds of her feet touching down on their carpeted floor, Azalea collapsed onto her knees (knocking both birds off of her shoulders) and pressed her hands to her face as the grief and pain she'd been holding back rushed forward and surrounded her once more. It had been far easier to hold back her tears while in a place where she'd never been allowed to feel.

The buzzing hum in her left ear grew louder in response and Azalea felt a surge of warmth fill her over the knowledge that Kurapika was still thinking about her. She reached up to clasp the pendant dangling from her left ear and wrapped herself in her magic as she focused entirely on Kurapika and the feelings he stirred in her. The answering heat suffusing her hand made her smile through her tears as some of her grief eased. She was startled when a white handkerchief suddenly appeared in front of her face and she glanced up to see the twins hovering over her with looks of concern.

"Are you alright, Azalea" George asked as he knelt down and pressed the handkerchief into her hands.

"If you give us names, we'll hex them for you," Fred added as he fingered his wand.

"No one's allowed to make our lovely partner cry."

"I'm fine, guys," Azalea insisted as she buried her emotions once more before using the handkerchief to clean her face off. "Save your hexes for the Death Eaters."

"We've more than enough hexes to go around," Fred pointed out.

"All you need to do is point our wands in the right direction."

"I appreciate the sentiment but you'd have to hex me in this case since I was the one that made myself miserable."

"Explain!" George ordered as he helped her to her feet and dragged her over to the couch while Fred got up to grab a jug of pumpkin juice and a trio of glasses.

"I didn't want to leave him," Azalea whispered as she twisted the damp handkerchief between her hands. "I know that couldn't stay but I didn't want to leave."

"Bugger that!" Fred crassly rebuked as he pressed a glass of juice into her hands. "No one would have made you come back if you really didn't want to."

"As much as we could use your help fighting You-Know-Who and his moronic minions, we'd never have demanded that you come back if you didn't want to," George added seriously as he studied her face.

"It's sweet of you to say so but all three of us know that you are wrong," Azalea countered as she studied the juice in her hands in an effort to determine whether or not it had been pranked.

"It's clean, Azalea; now is not the time for pranks," Fred dryly stated as he noted her look.

"One can never be sure with the two of you," Azalea threw back before taking a sip.

"Thanks for the compliment, now kindly explain why you think you had to come back and…"

"…then you're going to have to tell us just who it was you didn't want to leave behind."

"Ah, does the word 'prophecy' ring any bells?"

"Oh, we forgot about that," both twins murmured together in shock.

"I wish I could forget about it as easily."

"So, tell us about your new friend…" George demanded in an effort to change the topic.

"Yes! We want details and names because you said nothing…"

"…about having found yourself a beau when you were here a month and a half ago."

"Don't the two of you have a store to run?" Azalea inquired in an effort to get out of the impromptu interrogation.

"Nope," George cheekily retorted as he made a loud popping sound on the 'p'. "Verity and Angelina are manning the shop all day today…"

"So we're yours for the rest of the day."

"Joy," Azalea huffed as she dropped back against the couch and closed her eyes.

"Don't be like that!"

"Yeah, we just want to make certain that he's treating our little non-redheaded sister right."

"Fine but you're not getting all of the details or his name," Azalea groused as she gave in to their demands. "I met him on the ship that took me to the island where the Hunter's exam was being held. He was one of the four companions that I found myself traveling with throughout the entire Exam and we grew close during the Third and Fourth Phases of the Exam when we shared a bit of our pasts with each other. That was also when I revealed my magic to my companions in order to save the life of the oldest teen after he'd been stabbed in the stomach."

"Things were bad at the end of the Fourth Phase though; I burnt out my wand, badly burned my hand, and felt more than a little frustrated, resentful, and confused. Things got worse during the Final Phase… one of my companions was beaten into unconsciousness, I feared for the life of my…" Azalea paused and opened her eyes to glance down at her left hand for a moment as she struggled to define Kurapika without revealing just how physical their relationship had been and without giving away his name before she settled on using the title that George had given him. "…my beau as he faced one of the older applicants, and… and…"

"And what?" George demanded when Azalea trailed off.

"Ya can't leave us hanging now!"

"Yeah, you haven't even gotten to the good part yet…"

"We still don't know what your beau looks like…"

"Or if he's a good kisser…"

"Or how he managed to capture your heart," Fred finished before he added, "Come to think of it; you never did tell us how you managed to pass the Exam."

"Yeah, we want to know how many people you wiped the floor with in order to win."

"I didn't fight," Azalea confessed as she shrunk in on herself as she recalled how she'd earned her license. "The rules of the Final Phase said that you had to fight your opponent until one of you gave up and that knocking your opponent out would not end the fight but killing them would disqualify you. If someone killed another opponent anyway, then the rest of the applicants would automatically pass the Exam and receive their licenses."

"If you didn't fight, does that mean someone got killed?" Fred inquired.

"Yes."

"Well that sucks; was it one of your companions that were killed or did one of them kill their opponent?"

"Yes."

"Yes what? Yes one of your companions died?"

"Or yes, one of your companions killed another?"

"Yes to both…"

"One of the guys you'd been traveling with killed another of the guys you'd been traveling with? Why?"

"No; one of them had been placed under the Imperius Curse… or something like the Imperius Curse and he was being forced to kill another one of the applicants. I… I stopped him."

"If you stopped him, then who was it that died?" George demanded as he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"I did."

"What!?" Fred and George both cried out in shock.

"How is that even possible?"

"I mean you're sitting right here…"

"So, you are alive, right…?"

"Yeah, you don't look like a ghost…"

"I didn't stay dead, guys."

"I'm gonna ask it again… how is that even possible?" George demanded with a small frown as he eyed Azalea closely.

"The prophecy… I can't truly die until the prophecy is fulfilled," Azalea admitted as she averted her face and rolled the half filled glass of pumpkin juice between her hands. "They told me I was dead for over twenty minutes; that I had bled to death while suffocating on the blood that had filled my lungs. He… he stabbed me in the heart when I threw myself between him and his intended target. You remember the holes you asked me about in my dragon-hide cloak? Well, those are from that attack."

"Merlin's grubby undershorts, Azalea!" Fred exclaimed as he reached out and cuffed her on the back of the head.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" George demanded as he followed suit a heartbeat later. "Why didn't you use your wand to stop him?"

"I didn't have a wand anymore at that point. It didn't even cross my mind that I might get hurt because the only thought in my mind at the time was stopping him; he was just twelve years old and I couldn't just stand there and let him be controlled. My temporary death ended the tournament; the boy was disqualified because of my death and everyone else automatically passed, including me once I was revived. I later learned that the boy had had a complete mental breakdown right after I was declared dead and that he'd left before I returned to consciousness."

"Was that the attack that was giving you nightmares the last time you were here?" Fred asked after a few minutes of silence.

"No. That happened while I was still recovering from my death."

"So, you're saying someone attacked you after you miraculously returned from the dead?"

"Yes."

"Why? Were they upset that you stopped the kid from killing the person he was targeting?"

"No… it wasn't that kind of attack; he wasn't trying to kill me."

"Not that kind attack…? Are you saying…?"

"Did the man that attacked you, rape you, Azalea?" George asked in a deadly quiet voice that was filled with suppressed fury and Azalea flinched both at the tone and over the near accurate guess the redhead had made; rape was a serious crime in the wizarding world (though there were those who didn't care).

"Who was it, Azalea? Who do we need to kill for hurting you?" Fred demanded in the same tone.

"He didn't actually… he was going to… but he didn't. Kur… someone, a friend, stopped him before he could."

"That friend wouldn't happen to have been your new beau, would it?" George deduced as he narrowed his eyes.

"This new beau of yours didn't take advantage of you after the attack, did he?"

"Do we need to hunt him down and give him a right good hexing?"

"Don't make me hex the both of you in tender places," Azalea growled as she suffused the entire room with Ren to impress upon them the need to behave. After a moment, she withdrew her full aura and answered their questions. "Yes, my… beau saved me; no, he didn't take advantage of me; and if you even _think_ of hexing him again, I will beat the snot out of both of you with my bokken. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" both boys immediately agreed as they nodded in sync.

"Good. If not for Kur… if not for my beau, then I'd still be a right mess about the whole thing. He never pressured me into anything and he was nothing but a gentleman during the last six months. He also taught me how to defend myself and helped me improve my overall physical fitness and health. If not for him, I'd have never trusted the teacher that the association assigned to train us after we gained our Hunter's Licenses."

"And the pretty little ring on your finger?" Fred asked as he grabbed hold of Azalea's left hand.

"My beau gave it to me yesterday after I promised to wait for him."

"So, he's not just a beau… he's your fiancé?" George inquired with a trace of surprise as he took her hand from his twin and peered closely at the ring.

"I don't know… we didn't exactly talk about marriage," Azalea uncomfortably confessed as a blush spread across her face. "It's more of a promise ring, I suppose and a… a declaration of his feelings for me."

"And what did you give him in return?" Fred asked in a seemingly casual tone.

"And did he also give you the fancy bracelet you're wearing?" George asked right after that as the sleeve of her cloak had been pushed back enough for them both to see part of the bracelet due to the way that he was holding her hand.

"No, the bracelet is part of the set that Sirius gave me for my fifteenth birthday; I just never wore any of the pieces before because I didn't want to flaunt Sirius's wealth in front of Ron and Ginny. They were already jealous enough over the Firebolt he'd given me for Christmas during my third year. And… and I gave my beau one of the earrings from the set. I'd charmed them both so that they act very similar to the coins Horatio and I made for the DA in my fifth year."

"What happened to the other earring if you gave one to your beau?"

"I'm wearing it."

"Really? I never noticed…" George mused as he reached around to shift her hair out of the way to see the earring.

"Are you growing your hair out, Azalea? I seem to remember it being much shorter," Fred mused as he too plucked at her hair.

"I didn't think her hair could grow," George stated off-handedly as he released her hair after getting a good look at the earring and poured himself more juice.

"Always the same close cropped mop; I swear we once bet on whether or not she cut it every morning to keep it so short."

"I did not cut my hair every morning, I think accidental magic stopped it from growing after my aunt got quite ruthless in trimming it one time and left me near bald. After it grew back over night, she never touched it again and they stopped taking me to the barber to get it trimmed shorter because it never grew again."

"So why is it growing now?"

"Probably because I knew I would be seventeen this year and therefore knew I wouldn't have to live with my aunt much longer and that meant I no longer had to worry about her getting angry over me growing it out."

"So, what does your beau look like?"

"And what is his personality like?"

"Did I just hear someone say somezing about a beau?" Fleur inquired as she and Bill walked into the apartment at that moment.

"Our little brunette sister here went and landed herself a boy," Fred and George crowed in stereo as Fred brandished Azalea's left hand at Fleur and their brother.

"Oh! Zat is such a gorgeous ring," Fleur proclaimed with a squeal as she hurried forward to pull Azalea into a hug before letting her go so she could take a closer look at the ring on her finger; her accent growing thicker in her excitement. "You simply must tell me all about your new beau! What does he look like? Does he treat you right? When did you meet him? When do we get to meet him?"

"I met him back in December on the ship that took me to the Hunter's Exam," Azalea repeated in resignation as she knew that Fleur was as likely to give up as the twins had been; meaning that Azalea wouldn't hear the end of it until she answered the blond's questions. "He's six inches taller than me, has blond hair and gorgeous chocolate brown eyes, and he has the lithe build of a runner. He's strong, smart, and…"

"Sexy…?" Fleur asked suggestively.

"I was going to say handsome," Azalea muttered with a blush. The blush faded just as quickly as she grew sad while recalling everything else she liked about Kurapika and how she'd had to leave him behind. Her voice was soft and regretful as she continued a moment later.

"He's usually serious but he has a playful side to him and he teases me worse than Fred and George sometimes. He's protective of those that he considers his friends but he doesn't try and hold them back; he pushes them to get stronger. Hedwig likes him, Fawkes likes him now that he stopped calling him a self-barbecuing bird, and he likes cats. He doesn't care that I am a witch. He's absolutely wonderful and he told me he loves me and… and I still walked out on him today."

By the time she finished, Azalea was in tears again as the pain of walking away from Kurapika hit her again. A pair of arms wrapped around the young witch and she felt herself being gently rocked back and forth while someone hummed a soothing tune in her ear and Fawkes trilled softly from the other side of the room where the phoenix was perched beside Hedwig on the back of a chair. She tried to fight the tears, not wishing to appear weak in front of the others, but she was steadily loosing the battle as the scattering of tears became a flood of tears.

"Let it out, mon cher," Fleur encouraged softly in her ear, letting the distraught teen know that it was the older witch that was holding her. "Zere is no shame in crying when your heart is hurting."

That was all it took for the tears to give way to sobs as Azalea began babbling about her confusion over how she felt about Kurapika, how much it hurt to leave him, and how she hated Voldemort and the prophecy for ruining her entire life. She also touched on her anger at Dumbledore for keeping secrets, her aunt for treating her so coldly all of these years, and her friends for turning on her because she sought to make herself stronger. It was therapeutic and by the time she finished some two hours later, Azalea was feeling a little better even if she still missed Kurapika so much it hurt. When she sat up, she found herself alone in the room with just Fleur for company.

"Where did the others go?" Azalea asked around a sniffle as she fished out the handkerchief that George had given her earlier so she could clean her face again.

"Zey left so zat you could have a moment of privacy," Fleur replied as she pulled out her wand and cleaned them both up with a couple of spells. "Are you feeling better now?"

"A little, I still miss him…"

"Of course you do, mon cher; you love him. It is only natural zat you miss him."

"How do you know I love him? I don't even know if I love him."

"I can feel ze love you feel for him in your words when you speak of him, Azalea; zat ability is one of ze gifts I received from my veela heritage much like ze allure."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Fleur repeated as she reached out to capture Azalea's left hand in hers before she tapped the ring sitting on her left ring finger. "I can feel ze love in zis ring too… I know it is no mere trinket; he took extra care when he picked it out for you."

"He didn't buy the ring for me; he made it."

"He poured his heart into it zen and it is a work of art. So, how is he in bed?"

"Fleur!" Azalea protested as she blushed bright red at the rather personal question. "I never said we…"

"You did not have to say it; your magic said it for you."

"My magic…? Does that mean anyone will know…?"

"Non, only zose wiz veela blood zat met you earlier in life or a unicorn would be able to sense ze changes in your magic that resulted from ze loss of your virginity. So tell me, was he attentive to your needs?"

"You won't tell Bill or the twins, will you?" Azalea asked as with a soft sigh as she realized that she wasn't going to get out of answering the witch's invasive questions and if Azalea was honest with herself she wanted someone to talk about those things with; a girl friend to share her worries and insecurities with now she'd severed ties with Ginny.

"Of course not; girl talk is meant for girls and girls alone, mon cher. So…?"

"He made me feel so alive, Fleur. His kisses were divine and the way he touched me set me on fire. He always let me go as far as I felt comfortable with going and never pushed me to do anything I didn't want to do. It wasn't until yesterday that I gave myself to him fully though; despite the fact that we'd been sharing a bed for most of the last six months."

"He was your first, oui? Are you sore? I have a cream zat will help ease ze ache if you are."

"Yes, he was my first but aside from the first time, there was no pain. Not even after we spent practically all day…"

"All day?" Fleur parroted back with a bit of surprise. "And you are not sore at all? Even I have been sore after Bill and I spent an entire day making love. I was sore for hours after my first time."

"I have always healed really fast and after relying so much on wandless magic after my old wand was destroyed, I have been healing even faster because my magic is no longer restricted. It helps that my core is no longer bound by the bindings that Dumbledore placed on me as a child."

"Dumbledore bound your magic? Why? It is a terrible zing to bind a child's core," Fleur exclaimed with a frown. "If zey had not been removed before yesterday, you would have never been able to reach your full potential and you could have died when you reached magical maturity."

"He did it to block the gifts I received from my Potter Heritage and because of… of something else but I don't want to discuss that other thing until after the others get back so I don't have to repeat it a second time."

"I can wait until zen. Will you tell me how you broke ze bindings?"

"I don't know. I broke them back in January though; just before my wand burnt up on me because I overpowered the wand core when I purposefully overloaded a Cancellation Spell to end the trap my companions had ended up in. I'd pulled on far too much of my magic at the time because I was so used to having to strain against the bindings even if I didn't learn about the bindings until a few days later. It took me almost two months to regain control of my magic after that."

"How much control of your magic do you have now?"

"Complete control," Azalea replied with a smile. "I can cast quite a few charms, hexes, jinxes, and curses wandlessly and after I picked up a replacement wand I've further improved my spell casting, as the new wand I'm using is easily able to handle the full weight of my magic."

"You have been a busy little witch zis past year zen, non?"

"Would you like to see just how busy?"

"Oui!"

Azalea laughed in response to Fleur's enthusiasm and immediately changed into Pixie (as she'd named her mischievous little half-grown cat form). She was more than a little surprised when she learned that both her earring and her ring remained in place instead of folding into her form like her clothes and the other jewelry did. The earring was slightly annoying at first because of the way it dragged on her ear but she soon grew used to it as her attention was brought back to Fleur when the older witch cooed over her form and picked her up to pet her.

"Don't you just look adorable, mon petit chaton?"

Azalea mewed and playfully batted at Fleur's nose and chin with her paws as she was held up. She then sneezed out a laugh as she transformed into her as yet unnamed tiger form right on Fleur's lap. She let out a single smug purr as Fleur let out a strangled scream of shock at the sudden appearance of a half grown tiger in place of the small cat she'd been cooing over just seconds earlier. The younger witch then sat back on the couch and changed back into her human self; laughing at the scowl the other witch was now wearing.

"You could have at least warned me," Fleur groused as she swatted Azalea on the shoulder. "How is it zat you have two animagus forms? I zought zat it was only possible to have one?"

"My Potter Heritage includes a dual inner nature; one to represent my inner child and one to represent my soul. Please don't spread that around though because it's not common knowledge; in fact, there are only two other people aside from you that know I'm an animagus. I'll tell Fred, George, and Bill later; I want to at least prank the twins first. I also have to let the Chairman of the Hunter's Association know but aside from those four and Remus, I probably won't tell anyone else unless it becomes necessary."

"You have my word zat I will not tell anozer," Fleur promised without any hesitation. "Just make certain zat I am present when you prank ze twins; I want to see zem get a taste of zier own medicine."

"Deal."

"So what else have you been up to, young lady? And what did your young amant give to you for your birthday?"

"Amant?"

"Oui, it means lover."

"Oh," Azalea replied as she blushed yet again. "He gave me his ring and told me he loved me for the first time. And the only other thing I did was train physically and practiced my wandless magic. Kur… my beau also taught me self defense so I could protect myself if I was ever again in a position where I couldn't use my magic."

"Who gave you ze rest of your jewelry?" Fleur asked as she reached out and tapped the earring hanging from Azalea's left ear.

"My godfather; he gave me the ruby set on my fifteenth birthday."

"Did he just give you ze earrings or were zere more to ze set? And what happened to ze ozer earring?"

Azalea showed Fleur both the choker (which was hidden by the collars of her cloak and shirt) and the bracelet before explaining how she'd given the other earring to Kurapika. She was just describing the cake that the elves had her made for her birthday when Bill and the twins returned with offerings of chocolate and food. The conversation remained light during the late breakfast; all of them avoiding discussing the war or Azalea's absent boyfriend, focusing instead on Bill and Fleur's upcoming wedding (which was taking place on the ninth*).

Fleur ended up convincing Azalea to attend the wedding after George offered to be her 'date' in order to give her protection from Ginny, Ron, Horatio, and their mother (Fred had already asked Angelina to go with him). The issue of what she would wear to the wedding was solved by Fleur dragging her to Twilfitt and Tatting's right after the light meal. Once there, the French witch helped her pick out a tasteful set of light gray dress robes shot through with silver threads (with matching under garments) that would flatter her figure and compliment the colors that Fleur had chosen for the wedding but not outshine Fleur's wedding dress.

They would also not clash with her Gryffindor red graphorn cloak that Azalea point blank said she wouldn't not leave behind (she'd been attacked far too often to part with the protection it offered).

Fleur also talked her into piercing her right ear and wearing a single ruby stud (shaped like a diamond to match the rest of the set) that they purchased from the local jewelry store after they'd purchased her robes. After that, Azalea purchased a new pair of graphorn boots and a graphorn purse (with the same charms as her book bag) to match her robes so that she wouldn't have to wear her rather worn out dragon hide boots with her new dress robes or drag around her book bag. The last thing the seventeen year old witch purchased was a new pair of glasses that would compliment her face better than her old black ones; the frames gold and delicate looking (and woven over with enough charms that she'd never have to worry about anyone destroying them unless someone used Fiendfyre on them).

The two witches ate a late lunch at the Leaky Cauldron after they'd finished their shopping and Azalea made certain to hide her face with her hat so that no one would recognize her. There were so few customers in the pub that she needn't have bothered though, since no one actually looked twice at anyone else for fear of offending a potential Death Eater. It was sad really; seeing how much deeper the wizarding world had sunk in their fear since Dumbledore's death. The two of them didn't linger long after they'd eaten; choosing instead to hurry back to the twins' apartment to escape the tension choking the atmosphere of the pub.

Azalea spent the rest of the afternoon filling the two in on the details of her temporary death and Hisoka's attack (after learning that the twins had mentioned both in passing to Bill earlier that morning) while learning how to apparate from Fleur and Bill with the twins keeping up a running commentary in the background. After the twins closed the store for the night, the five of them finally turned their discussion to the escalating war and the plans they'd tentatively made two months earlier.

Azalea asked Bill to throw up some serious privacy wards before she gave them the full wording of the prophecy and told them about Voldemort's horcruxes; holding nothing back, not even the knowledge that she had been a horcrux right up until she died temporarily back in January.

Bill was grim faced by the end of that discussion; the curse breaker intimately familiar with horcruxes through his job at Gringotts. He also knew several spells that would help them confirm whether or not an object was a horcrux and how to properly handle one of the artifacts to avoid ending up possessed by the thing. Azalea didn't hesitate to allow the curse breaker to cast those spells on her scar to confirm the horcrux was gone – it was.

The news that Dumbledore had given Azalea Gryffindor's Sword and that it had been imbued with basilisk venom was welcome news since basilisk venom was one of four methods used to destroy horcruxes was heartening because using the sword was by far the safest way to destroy the foul things (Fiendfyre, the Killing Curse, and a highly complex and costly (magically speaking) magic nullifying ward were the other three methods).

They spent another hour discussing possible plans for locating the remaining horcruxes. Bill mentioned a possible way to search the vaults at Gringotts legally in order to find out if one of the Death Eaters had placed one in their vault (as Dumbledore suspected might be the case) or if Voldemort had used his own vault (if he even had one) but he said he'd need to speak with his supervisor first to confirm whether or not it would work.

Azalea fully planned to search the castle during the upcoming school year if Hogwarts opened up without Dumbledore; the petite witch would later write a quick letter to Professor McGonagall about her being tested on the sixth year material so that she could join the rest of the seventh years. The other idea involved raiding the manors of the known Death Eaters; something that carried a high risk of death, serious injury, or capture due to the defensive wards that would likely be involved.

Azalea would curl up on the couch in her kitten form later that night (after everyone else had gone to bed); the witch seeking to suppress the aching loneliness she felt and stave off the nightmares she knew would haunt her due to Kurapika's absence.

* * *

**Translations:** French to English

Amant – lover  
Mon cher – my dear  
Mon petit chaton – my little kitten  
Non – no  
Oui - yes

**Notes:**

Fleur and Bill's wedding date – according to canon, Bill and Fleur were married on the first of August in Deathly Hallows but I purposefully moved the wedding out a week to give Azalea time to prepare and so as not to make it seem like Bill or Fleur were neglecting the wedding plans or the wedding itself to meet with Azalea to discuss her plans on dealing with Voldemort.

* * *

**11-06-15: **_Replaced 'wee' with 'oui' to correct my French after __TRGrene pointed the mistake out to me. I'm not sure why I didn't fix that sooner; I knew 'wee' was the phonetically spelling and not the proper spelling but my blondeness must have been showing. ~ Jenn  
_


	29. Weddings x and x War

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Weddings x and x War

The second and third of August were both difficult days for Azalea as she dealt with the pain of leaving Kurapika. The near constant buzzing in her left ear helped her through those long hours as knowing that Kurapika was thinking of her let her know that she hadn't been forgotten. The constant companionship of the three Weasleys and Fleur also helped as they made certain to never leave her alone to wallow in her misery. Fawkes wasn't shy about singing during particularly rough moments either; the phoenix intimately aware of her many moods thanks to the bond they now shared and he never let her sink too far into despair.

The last thing that helped was making solid plans to deal with Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Bill had come back on Sunday evening after speaking to his supervisor with a positive answer for Azalea; she could lay claim to the vaults of those witches and wizards that she defeated (or killed) in battle. The only stipulations that the goblin had made was that she provide them with a memory of the battle (to prove her victory) and that it only apply to those witches and wizards that followed Voldemort. Plans were made to visit the bank the next day so that she could claim Riddle's vaults (which potentially included the Gaunt Vaults – something that was uncertain since that family had lost their fortune long before Tom was born) and the vault or vaults of the Death Eater that she'd killed the night of Dumbledore's murder.

The next morning, Bill escorted Azalea to see his supervisor and left her to present her case while he went to work. The ferocious goblin studied her intently the moment she entered the room; his eyes judging and weighing her. Azalea simply arched an eyebrow at the humanoid being while refusing to allow him to intimidate her; she'd been subjected to far worse glares, sneers, and leers through the years. The goblin then smiled a near predatory smile at her as he pulled out a rough carved pensieve and told her to place the first memory inside.

She started with her memory of the night Voldemort killed her parents, next was the memory of the night she killed Quirrell, after that she pulled out the fight with the basilisk and Riddle's shade, then came the night of Voldemort's rebirth, and lastly she drew out her encounter with Voldemort at the end of her fifth year where she'd broken off the Dark Lord's possession of her. After those finished playing out, she presented the goblin with Dumbledore's journal detailing the life of one Tom Marvolo Riddle aka the Dark Lord Voldemort.

Those memories netted her three vaults; the Gaunt Family Vault, Riddle's personal vault, and a vault registered to Lord Voldemort. The last two were actually still active as all Death Eaters were required to pay a monthly tribute to their Lord and Master from the moment they had signed up.

The old Gaunt Family Vault only held those things that the family had been unable to sell off; worthless junk in the eyes of most magicals and Azalea willingly paid the back fees to claim the vault (just in case it held clues). The Riddle Vault held close to two hundred thousand galleons along with some rare muggle artifacts that were worth a pretty penny; that vault had apparently been the one that Voldemort used for the legitimate business that he conducted. And Voldemort's evil overlord vault (as Azalea had dubbed the final vault) held over two million galleons since his Death Eaters had continued to deposit money into the vault even after the Dark Lord had been vanquished in nineteen-eighty-one.

Azalea's maniacal laughter after hearing that actually frightened the goblin because she had sounded rather insane.

In one fell swoop, the Girl-Who-Lived had just cut Voldemort's war funding; so she was feeling more than a little giddy. Azalea offered the goblin ten thousand galleons straight out of Voldemort's vault if he could keep the knowledge that she'd claimed all the three of Voldemort's vaults quiet for at least the rest of the month. The goblin readily agreed. She also asked that all of the money from both of the Dark Lord's vaults be moved into the Gaunt Vault to keep it safe from Riddle (the Dark Lord had never claimed the vault previously because he hadn't wanted to pay the fees).

The last thing she did was to make certain that the Black Family Vault was not still paying a tribute to Voldemort's vault because of Regulus's short stint as a Death Eater. It was, in addition to paying the tributes for Bellatrix and Narcissa as well but a single signature saw all three tributes revoked.

The next order of business was dealing with the Death Eater that she'd killed back in June. His identity was confirmed as Fenrir Greyback; a vicious and well known werewolf and blackmailer that turned out to be richer than Voldemort. His single vault had netted Azalea seven million galleons in blood money.

Azalea only took one million galleons of that money which was to be transferred into the Gaunt Vault and paid another fifty thousand galleons to the goblins to purchase their services in distributing the remainder of the money to his known victims (providing that they were not on Voldemort's payroll and didn't have the Dark Mark burned into their flesh). Remus's name was mentioned as a potential source of information on Greyback; he'd been the werewolf that had turned the Marauder.

The last order of business Azalea had with the goblin was to hire Bill's services in order to search for dark artifacts in all of the vaults she owned; the curse breaker the most logical choice since he had far more experience than she did in dealing with dangerous magic. That service would cost her five thousand galleons per vault searched with an additional five hundred galleons being paid for each dark artifact cleansed. A short debate and another three thousand galleons saw Fleur and a low level goblin both being hired to stand in as witnesses for the procedure, keep a detailed accounting of each dark item found and cleansed, and inventory the non-monetary items in each vault.

Bill's supervisor actually deigned to shake Azalea's hand after their business was concluded; the goblin more than a little pleased to have earned Gringotts several thousand galleons for a minimal amount of work. The fact that Azalea fully intended to seize more vaults through conquest only whetted the goblin's greed; especially since he knew Azalea would hire Gringotts' services to search each vault she claimed.

It helped that Azalea didn't blink an eye at the costs involved (she had more than enough money to cover the fees even before she'd taken control of the four vaults), that she hadn't flinched when the goblin had tested her the moment she stepped into the office, and that she'd unhesitatingly shaken the goblin's hand when he offered it to her.

She returned to the twins' apartment after that and wrote down the totals of what she'd gained from the meeting with the goblin and what she'd spent. She then sat down and drafted a letter to the Minister of Magic to request (read demand) information on all known or suspected Death Eaters. Azalea made certain to remind Minister Scrimgeour that he was under oath to cooperate with her and that any correspondence she sent to him was not to be shared with anyone for any reason before she sent it off with Fawkes (Hedwig still off delivering her letter to McGonagall).

The rest of the afternoon was then spent studying from the sixth year text books after she made a quick trip across the street to purchase the ones she didn't have on hand from Flourish and Blotts; she wanted to make certain she was prepared to take the sixth year tests if McGonagall allowed her to do so.

She was confronted by an exasperated Bill Weasley when he finished work; the wizard a little put out that she'd not warned him that she would be hiring both him and Fleur to basically inventory and search her vaults. She just shrugged and told him that she hadn't known she would be doing so until after she'd already done it. She was also smart enough to know that the wizard would have tried to talk her out of it if she'd warned him ahead of time.

He grumbled a bit before he thanked her for thinking of him as vault work always paid higher than his normal wage because he would earn a commission for each dark item he cleansed and for each goblin forged artifact he discovered during the search (the artifact would remain in the vault; he'd just make note of which ones were there for the goblins' records). That led to a discussion on how goblins viewed goblin made artifacts (such as the Sword of Gryffindor). After that discussion, Azalea asked how the goblins would react if she were to give some of the goblin made items back to the goblin nation and pay 'back rent' for those items that held meaning to her family.

Bill told her that giving most of them back with a small monetary gift to 'pay' for the 'theft' of the items would see the goblins far more willing to overlook the legality of some of her vault acquisitions if there was no clear indication that she defeated the owner of the vault. There was also a higher chance that they would give her better fee rates for services hired through the bank. Purchasing the rights to remaining items for the remainder of her lifetime and paying the 'back rent owed' would see them giving her preferential treatment each time she visited the bank.

Letting the goblins know that she would be willing to return those artifacts before he actually began the search would also go a long way to improving her future interactions with the goblins. After supper, Azalea didn't hesitate to write out a letter that Bill helped her to draft regarding the goblin made artifacts in all of the vaults bar the Potter Family Vault; stating that she wished to having an accounting of those that had been kept by the Potters so she could decide whether she'd give them back or 'rent' them and pay any money her family owed for them so that they could remain in the family. She'd ask Fawkes deliver the missive to Bill's supervisor first thing in the morning.

The fifth saw Azalea celebrating her birthday a second time as the twins threw her a small party; the two of them inviting the rest of the old Gryffindor Quidditch team (including those that had graduated like Oliver and Angelina), Luna and Neville (the two of them had not attacked Azalea in their letters, though she hadn't learned that until the party), Charlie, Remus, and Tonks from the Order (the only three members they knew wouldn't tattle on them about Azalea living with them), and the Delacours.

It was a nice gesture and it helped Azalea feel a little better knowing she had more friends than she'd thought she had left in the wizarding world and she enjoyed catching up with everyone. The ladies present (aside from Fleur) fawned over the ring on Azalea's finger while the boys promised to hex Kurapika if he ever hurt her. Snacks, drinks, and a cake were provided by Dobby and Kreacher; the new cake made in the shape and likeness of large white and pink azalea flowers complete with green leaves and stems.

After the cake, Azalea opened a small pile of gifts that included:

A professional grade Quidditch ball set collectively from Angelina, Alicia, Katie, and Oliver. A set of delicate silver and gold silk scarves and gloves from Fleur's parents. A crystal vase (charmed to extend the life of any flower placed inside of it) from Bill and Fleur. A blooming bonsai azalea bush in a ceramic pot from Neville. A large sachet of homemade potpourri and a handmade friendship bracelet (woven from the tail hairs of a unicorn, a thestral, and a winged horse) from Luna.

There was also a pair of tasteful ivory and crystal hair clips with roses and butterflies from the twins (that Verity had helped them pick out). A complete set of baby teeth from one of the Horntails that hatched from the nest of eggs that had belonged to the Horntail that Azalea had faced in her fourth year from Charlie. A rope-chain necklace with an azalea pendant made from opals and rubies from Tonks. And lastly there was half a dozen charmed crystal and gold roses from Remus.

When the party was over, Remus pressed three last presents and an envelope into her hands and told her to open them when she was alone; the werewolf softly letting her know that both the gifts and the card were from Sirius and that he'd been asked to personally deliver them to her on specific dates as per Sirius's wishes (though he'd been unable to do so sooner since he hadn't known where to find her at the proper time). Azalea waited until everyone else had gone to sleep before she opened the envelope first with shaky hands.

_Little Fawn, _

_If you are reading this; then I am no longer there and for that I will apologize. And while  
I know I can't ask you not to grieve for my death, I will ask you not to mourn me. I knew  
there was a chance that I would not survive the war and took measures to insure that you  
would be taken care of._

_If you haven't already heard from the goblins, you can expect them to approach you the  
next time you enter the bank in order to inform you of your status as my heir. I always  
saw you as the daughter I never had and wish I could have been there for you when you  
needed me most. I will always regret not taking you the night your parents died and while  
I know the money won't make you feel any better; it will make me feel better to know that  
you will never want for anything once you come of age._

_I have also taken the time to purchase birthday and Christmas gifts for you up through to  
your twenty-fifth birthday. I wanted to make certain that I never again failed to give you a  
gift after having missed so many important dates. I gave Remus detailed instructions on  
how to handle their distribution and he will deliver them to you at the appropriate times. _

_In the event that the old wolf does not survive the war, arrangements have already been  
made for the goblins to take over the delivery of your gifts as they are all in a special vault  
within Gringotts all wrapped and waiting for their day of delivery._

_Silly, maybe, but it was very important for me to not slack off again on my godfatherly  
duties. I know those gifts will never be enough for me to make up for leaving you but I  
do hope they at least bring you a little happiness and allow you to remember me fondly  
once in a while. _

_The last thing I wish to tell you is that I have always seen you as a daughter and that I  
love you very, very much. I also know that you will grow up to be a very beautiful young  
lady and only wish I could be there to see you blossom. And I will hex any would be  
suitors from beyond the grave if they even think of taking liberties with you or if they dare  
hurt you in any way._

_Love you always,  
Sirius _

Azalea laughed softly through her tears over the idle threat at the end of the letter; her godfather had already given her his blessings in her relationship with Kurapika, after all. But it was so like him to threaten her non-existent suitors from the afterlife. She took a moment to wipe her face before she tucked the letter back into the envelope and put it inside of one of her books until she could add it to her photo album so that it wouldn't get ruined.

She then turned her attention to the three gifts and opened them in order according to the dated tags that were stuck the top of each one. The first one was supposed to have been given to her on her sixteenth birthday and contained a ruby and gold headband that matched the set she'd been given for her fifteenth birthday along with another set of earrings; these ones exactly like the first pair but with the addition of a pair of diamond shaped diamonds strung from a pair of shorter chains than the diamond shaped ruby and a jacket of alternating diamond shaped diamonds and rubies around the post in the shape of a diamond.

The second gift, meant for Christmas of ninety-six, was a pair of books titled _Planning Perfect Pranks_ and _Pugnacious Pranking Spells for Prospective Pranksters_ (both books written by Padfoot and Prongs and edited by Moony) and a triangular shaped locket with a single diamond shaped ruby in the center surrounded by alternating diamonds and rubies on a gold chain. The locket held two pictures inside; one of her parents holding her on the day she was born and one of Sirius holding her and Remus standing beside him from the same day.

The note in the gift said both books were the original manuscripts that Sirius had finished writing over the course of her fifth year with Remus's help and that she could either hold onto them for herself as keepsakes or she could publish them if she so desired. Azalea was torn about what to do with the books; on one hand they had been written by her father and godfather and therefore something to be treasured but on the other hand, what better legacy to leave behind for both men than to have them published?

Sighing, she turned her attention to the final gift (the one intended for her seventeenth birthday) and found a dainty lady's watch with tiny rubies marking the hours and the tips of both hands with alternating rubies and diamonds circling the face and a ring with a single ruby bracketed by a pair of smaller diamonds. Both pieces were obviously part of the same set as the rest of the jewelry that Sirius had given her; all of the gemstones cut into the shape of a diamond and several of the larger rubies made to look like diamond shaped chain links.

Azalea took a moment to put on the ring (on her right ring finger), the watch (on her left wrist with the bracelet), and the locket around her neck before she tucked everything else into her book bag and went to bed. Her dreams that night were filled with old nightmares of Sirius's death mixed in with memories of meeting Sirius during her temporary death.

The rest of the week was spent studying or researching; either reading through her text books or going through the files the Minister had sent her on the Death Eaters (which included the trial transcripts from nineteen-eighty-one and eighty-two). She would receive a reply from McGonagall on the seventh with the news that she had an appointment at the school to take her tests on the twenty-first to determine if she would be held back a year or not. The twins promised to help make certain she was well prepared for the tests by helping her practice the sixth year spells and potions.

The moment they saw what wand Azalea was using, the two nineteen year olds demanded to know why she had Dumbledore's wand. She explained about taking it off Draco and forgetting about it in her pockets and then how it had bonded to her the next time she touched it; much like her original wand had. Knowing wands will sometimes choose another wizard if their original owner was defeated, they let the matter drop after that; suspecting that Draco had won the wand first and that then she'd won the wand from him.

To prevent others from recognizing it quite so easily, Azalea stained the wood of the wand red and the handle gold like her bokken; few wizards ever bothered looking beyond the obvious.

Bill and Fleur helped with Azalea's lessons as well whenever they were around; which was less and less the closer it got to their wedding date as they often made trips to the Burrow to help set up everything for the wedding and to the Hotel where the Delacours were staying to spend time with her family. Azalea actually tagged along a couple of times to have lunch or supper with Fleur's parents and younger sister at their request. On those occasions the seventeen year old was introduced to a number of Fleur's cousins that had come to England in order to attend her wedding; she'd never quite remember who was who because they all looked very much alike (meaning they were all blonde and beautiful).

Azalea spent the night with the Delacours on the eighth so that the ladies could help her with her hair and makeup (something no one had ever done for her before; not even for the Yule Ball in her fourth year when she attended as the date of Viktor Krum). The next morning, Apolline Delacour (Fleur's mother) had Azalea up an hour before dawn so she could be given a 'veela' spa treatment along with the rest of the ladies. This basically involved a dozen different potions used to give each of the ladies a proper facial treatment that removed dead skin, cleansed the pores, smoothed the skin, reduced stress lines, removed blemishes (such as pimples, ingrown hairs, or dark circles) and invigorated the ladies.

Additionally, there were potions that cleaned and repaired one's hair, brought out the natural shine of one's hair, and tamed even the wildest of locks. Azalea's hair was then pulled partially back from her face (bar her fringe) and held back by the ruby headband (which was made up of ruby links like her bracelet and choker) she'd been given a couple of nights earlier. The rest of her hair had been teased into a natural mess of wavy locks that didn't quite want to lay flat. The new look was rather flattering though and allowed her to show off her earrings (the stud in her right ear and the original pendant earring in the left).

Next, they applied a thin layer of makeup; using subtle colors that flattered and enhanced her natural beauty. A special whitening paste brightened up her teeth and breath freshening mouth paste guaranteed that she'd have minty fresh breath for a full eighteen hours no matter what she ate or drank. At that point, Azalea was told to put on the undergarments she'd be wearing for the day so that comfort charms could be applied.

She was greatly embarrassed over the attention her scars drew; especially the six new ones just above and between her breasts (the five puncture wounds from Killua's hand and the long incision from her subsequent surgery). Thankfully, the robes Fleur had picked for her would cover said scars completely as Azalea didn't fancy allowing just anyone to see those marks.

Apolline had tisked under her breath when she saw the scars and muttered dire things in French that would have worried Azalea if Fleur hadn't been right there providing a summary of who her mother would like to skin for allowing a young woman to be so marked. The woman had then promised to provide Azalea with a scar reduction cream that would help smooth the skin and make the scars far less noticeable. It wouldn't do much good for the older scars but the ones on her chest and the palm of her right hand were still recent enough that they could be reduced to almost nothing.

By that time it was nearing twelve o'clock and they ate a light lunch that mainly consisted of a garden salad, fresh fruit, and raw vegetables (breakfast had been croissants and fruit filled crepes). After the meal, Apolline concentrated on helping Fleur into her dress while a couple of Fleur's cousins helped Azalea and each other get dressed without mussing their hair or makeup.

The dress part of Azalea's robes looked much like an a-line formal gown with a sleeveless, high necked bodice made from velvet with a silk skirt that flared out in three layers from her waist (each layer a third shorter and just a hair lighter in color than the layer beneath it). It came with a long sleeved open fronted over robe that was slightly darker than the lowest skirt in color and would frame the dress when worn. The silver threads woven through the material glinted in the light and Azalea couldn't help but blush when she was finally allowed to look at herself in the mirror.

She looked nothing like the scrawny little waif she'd always looked like before; helped in part by the twenty pounds that she'd gained from the diet that Kurapika and Dr. Mackle had insisted she follow. She'd even gained half a cup size over the past six months and it showed in the way she filled out the dress. In short; her reflection showed her the image of an unexpectedly beautiful young woman.

Fleur imperiously ordered her mother to take pictures of Azalea when the older witch caught sight of her staring at herself in the mirror. More pictures were taken after her graphorn cloak was cleaned and donned. Most of the older witches present grumbled about how it was inappropriate to wear dueling robes to a wedding but Azalea firmly insisted upon wearing them because of her luck. They at least were new enough that they could be passed off as just a really nice cloak which helped mollify most of the witches.

Fleur's ready acceptance also helped as the young bride was well aware of just how big of a trouble magnet Azalea was after listening to a few of her adventures over the past week.

Azalea and the rest of those present that were not in the bridal party left at two fifteen in order to grab their seats for the ceremony. Azalea traveled first to the twins' apartment where she met up with the twins and Angelina so that they could travel to the Burrow together. George lamented over the fact that Azalea was already spoken for the moment he laid eyes on her before asking her how she was hiding her wings (a subtle compliment that compared her to an angel); Azalea laughed and blushed over the flattering remark.

The four of them then grabbed hold of their invitation (which doubled as a portkey to the Burrow) and they were whisked away in a swirl of blue light. The seventeen year old witch nearly tossed up her lunch and barely stayed on her feet and Azalea bemoaned the fact that magicals couldn't come up with a mode of transportation that didn't make one sick. Angelina laughed at her and helped her straighten up her robes and made sure her makeup hadn't been smudged.

She also handed the younger witch a peppermint chew to help ease the nausea caused by all the spinning. The twins then escorted the ladies to the large pavilion that had been set up to hold the ceremony where they were quickly seated towards the front of the tent on the bride's side (due to the large number of family that was expected to turn up from the Weasley side). Fred and George then headed off to help seat the guests while Angelina and Azalea saved them seats and chatted with Fleur's cousins that had been seated just a few minutes before them.

More than once Azalea wished that Kurapika could have been there at her side and only the knowledge that she was protecting her lover from those that would take offense to his non-magical heritage helped her hold back her misery. Well, that and the fact that she didn't want to ruin Bill and Fleur's big day by being a wet blanket. At least no one had recognized her as of yet (outside of the twins and Fleur's family); her improved health, new glasses, change of hairstyle, light makeup, and flattering outfit making her look far different than normal.

In fact, the first one to recognize her was Viktor Krum; her former fellow Tri-Wizard champion, Yule date (as friends after they'd both been chased into the library by rabid fans seeking to be their dates), and friend. Viktor seemed a little disappointed when he learned that she was being escorted by one of the twins and that she was no longer single but he cheered up when she readily agreed to save him at least one dance after the ceremony. Horatio recognized her next and quickly passed the news onto Ron, who had started to storm over to confront her only to back off when he saw who she was sitting with.

Viktor had been seated on the bride's side of the room and the Bulgarian had taken the open seat on Azalea's left side (George's seat saved between her and Angelina with Fred's seat on Angelina's right); Ron had never forgiven the famous Quidditch player for taking Azalea to the Yule Ball or Azalea for going as the older wizard's date for that matter.

The last of the guests were seated just a few minutes before three and Bill took his place up at the front of the tent with Charlie (his best man) and a couple of friends he knew from work (his groomsmen). Fred and George joined the two witches right after they'd finished their duties; both of them cordially greeting Viktor as they took their seats. The ceremony began just a minute after that as the clock struck three and as one, the entire audience turned to face the entrance as music began to play and the bridesmaids filed in sprinkling white rose petals down the aisle. Fleur entered on the arm of her father next and Azalea thought she looked absolutely stunning in her white dress.

The rest of the ceremony was nothing but one long blur in Azalea's mind as she fantasized about marrying Kurapika for the first time. The reception afterwards was pretty much a blur as well as she danced with George, Fred, Bill, Charlie, Mr. Delacour, Mr. Lovegood, Remus, Moody, Viktor (several times after he saved her from her former friends and Mrs. Weasley more than once during the course of the night), and a small number of Fleur's male cousins. She did dance once with Mr. Weasley as well but George cut in the moment he had attempted to coax her into apologizing to Ron and Ginny (the two youngest had told their parents that Azalea turned on them for no reason at all).

The next outburst actually originated between Viktor and Mr. Lovegood over the symbol that Mr. Lovegood was wearing; the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. Azalea learned much about the Hallows and Grindelwald from both Viktor and Mr. Lovegood during the course of their short, but intense argument that night. Then there was a small fight between one of Mrs. Weasley's relatives and one of Dumbledore's old friends and Azalea learned that Rita Skeeter would soon be publishing a scandalous biography on the life of Albus Dumbledore.

The brunette witch wasn't certain how she felt about that; on one hand she had once respected Dumbledore and on the other she still didn't know if she could forgive him for the meddling he'd done in her life.

She didn't have much time to ponder the matter as the reception was interrupted on the heels of that argument by the arrival of a glowing silvery-white patronus in the shape of a lynx that gravely announced the fall of the Ministry of Magic, the death of Rufus Scrimgeour, and a warning that the Death Eaters were on their way to Ottery St. Catchpole in Kingsley Shacklebolt's deep voice. Panic filled the tent until Azalea let out a loud whistle to gain everyone's attention while buttoning up her dueling robes. The witch then began handing out orders to all of those present right alongside wandless Stinging Hexes to anyone that dared to argue with her or her orders.

Dobby, Kreacher, and Fawkes were brought in to evacuate those that could not fight while those that could were quickly organized to provide cover for those being evacuated. Azalea herself then drew the attention of the Death Eaters when they arrived and tossed up anti-transportation spells (that thankfully wouldn't affect the two elves or the phoenix) in order to buy time for most of the guests to be evacuated. Fred, George, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Remus, Moody, Tonks, and Viktor covered her back as she ran headlong into the fight like an avenging angel with her bokken dealing out physical and magical damage right and left and her aura visibly swirling around her in response to her anger.

Five of the dozen and a half Death Eaters had fallen to Azalea's spells or blades before the rest of them fled from the Burrow sporting an assortment of injuries courtesy of the other witches and wizards that had kept the Death Eaters from getting too close to the guests or splitting up to surround Azalea. Once the fight was over, Azalea walked up and unmasked all five downed Death Eaters, cut off their left sleeves to verify that they all carried the Dark Mark, and briefly scanned their minds to confirm their intentions before she methodically killed each one using her Emitter's aura to stop their hearts with a bullet made of Nen.

Her actions horrified some of those that were still present but she merely sneered at them and belittled them for allowing the problems in their society to propagate for decades by allowing murdering scum to walk free with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. She loudly reminded those still left that the Death Eaters had just taken over their government and that they were effectively at war with the Death Eaters and Voldemort. She went on to ask them how long they thought the Death Eaters would allow them to live unmolested now that the Ministry had fallen and how many innocents would need to die before they stood up and fought back.

Fawkes then flashed her out of there while the two house elves collected the dead bodies of the Death Eaters (all five of which would be delivered to Bill's supervisor for identification purposes so that she could claim their vaults – she'd provide him with the memory of the short fight later). Azalea ended up at Grimmauld Place and she promptly ran to the nearest bathroom to toss up her supper as she recalled how she'd killed those five men (teens in two cases) in cold blood. The terrible memories she'd seen in their mind only added to the churning in her stomach.

She eventually ended up in Sirius's old bedroom where she curled up on the bed and cried herself to sleep once she had stopped vomiting.

Moody would be the one to discover Azalea hidden away in Sirius's old bedroom after a frantic two hour search to locate the missing witch when the twins didn't find her at their place after they finished helping their parents clean up the messes from both the wedding and the attack. The crotchety old auror let the others know where she was but told them not to bother her because she was sleeping off her exhaustion; the witch had thrown around some serious magic during the fight.

Fawkes's soft singing throughout the night was the only thing that kept the nightmares from Azalea's dreams that night.

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**11-01-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	30. Banking x on x Taboos

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Thirty: Banking x on x Taboos

Azalea returned to Diagon Alley and the Weasley twins' place the next day after a rousing pep talk by Mad Eye Moody; one that involved the words 'fight fire with fire', 'constant vigilance', and 'never let them see you weak'.

Azalea had been tempted to hex him in tender places just to see if he was practicing what he preached. She resisted the temptation because she had no desire to be hexed in tender places in return and she knew Moody would do it in a heart beat despite her being a girl. The man offered her his wand any time she needed it just before she left; his way of saying that he was on her side and that he didn't hold her actions from the previous day against her.

Before she returned to the apartment above the Triple W, Azalea swung by the bank to provide her memory of the fight and make arrangements to distribute or consolidate her spoils. This time she chose to have most of the money distributed between the families that were attending the wedding with larger sums going to Bill and Fleur (for their ruined day) and Molly and Arthur (because it was their home attacked). The rest of the money paid for any fees incurred, for Bill's services in searching the five new vaults, and to cover the vet bill for the indigestion that one of the Gringotts' dragons had suffered after devouring two of the dead bodies.

She then headed to the apartment for a shower and to find out just how many people had been injured, if any of the guests had died, and just how pissed the rest of the Weasleys were with her. She was greeted at the door by a shirtless Charlie who hugged her and thanked the deities that she was alright. Viktor (thankfully, he was at least wearing a shirt) hugged her next and calmly told her she'd fought beautifully before telling her to not be so reckless next time and to let someone know where she was going before she disappeared.

Apparently, her little disappearing act after she had terrorized their would-be-attackers had people a bit more worried than Moody had let on. George saved her and sent her off for a shower so she could get out of her dirty dress robes. She returned to the kitchen a half an hour later to find that Dobby had delivered breakfast (Kreacher had collected her dress robes to clean and repair them while Dobby cooked).

Charlie and Viktor were filled in on their plans and the prophecy after they both swore the same oath that Bill, Fleur, and the twins had sworn and they promptly offered their help. Both men also gave estimates of how many people they knew back on the continent that would likely be willing to help if it came down to an all out war. Azalea then asked the twins to come up with a mass communication device that could be used to let their scattered forces know if they were needed; something like the DA coins but different so it would be obvious as to what it was without getting mixed up in pocket change.

Two days later, Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes was closed, the premises placed under extensive wards, the merchandise put into storage, and the apartment abandoned as warrants were put out for the twins' arrest due to them selling 'harmful products' to purebloods. (There'd been a few vocal supporters of Voldemort that had had the snot pranked out of them when they'd been spouting off their nonsense in the alley a few days before the wedding.) There was also a warrant out for Azalea's arrest for the murders of five purebloods (the five Death Eaters that she'd killed at the Burrow).

That same day the twins and Azalea moved into Grimmauld Place with Moody, Remus, and Tonks who'd all been living there since Sirius's death and the Fidelius Charm was recast with Azalea as the Secret Keeper in order to make certain the place stayed secure. Charlie and Viktor had by that time returned to the continent to start drumming up willing wands to fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Five days after moving into Grimmauld Place, the group learned about the Taboo placed upon Voldemort's name and the Snatchers that would hunt down those that spoke the Dark Lord's name. Azalea immediately made plans to use the new Taboo against them; leading the Snatchers into traps in order to thin out their troops and to strike fear back into the hearts of the Death Eaters for once. Her leading those counter raids would also draw attention away from Bill's ongoing search through the various vaults and hopefully make Voldemort believe that his horcruxes were safe and secure (the newly weds had put off their honeymoon for the time being due to the escalating war).

The following day, Fleur brought Azalea the wizarding photos of her that had been taken on the day of the wedding; including a handful of rather spectacular ones of her facing off against the Death Eaters alone. Dobby delivered non-moving copies of the ones taken before the wedding and one moving copy of the best fight photo to Kurapika along with a long letter from Azalea. She got two letters back in return; one long one that he'd obviously written and added to for a while and a quick short note that only said; _Didn't I tell you that you'd look adorable… hmm, better make that gorgeous in a dress, kitten?_

She wore a smile and a light blush the rest of the day as her left earring buzzed loudly and burned steadily nearly all day long.

Azalea was escorted to the castle on the twenty-first by the twins and Moody so that she could take her tests and soon learned that Snape had been made Headmaster by the newly instated Board of Governors (made up of Death Eaters and Voldemort supporters). That wouldn't stop her from attending her seventh year. The warrant the new Minister of Magic had put out for her arrest, on the other hand, would. That just meant that she'd have to spend the year homeschooling herself and discreetly send her completed assignments to her various professors in order to get them graded.

The only real problem with that was the need to search the castle for one of the horcruxes but her invisibility cloak, animagus form, and the Marauder's Map should allow her to get around that problem. After taking (and easily acing) the end of year exams for her sixth year classes, Azalea and the three wizards with her spent the rest of the afternoon and all evening searching the Chamber of Secrets for one of the missing horcruxes. They didn't find one but they did harvest a considerable amount of basilisk venom that could either be used to destroy the horcruxes or sold for a hefty sum (the rest of the carcass had been worthless due to how long it had sat decaying beneath the castle).

After they finished that task, Azalea made arrangements to return to the castle each night in order to start searching other potential hiding places (such as the Slytherin Common Room, the Dungeons, and an ungodly number of broom closets) until the start of term. She also spoke at length to Professor Flitwick and the Sorting Hat about the various Founders' Artifacts and was shown a marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw (complete with a stone replica of her missing diadem) in the Ravenclaw Common Room.

The four of them returned to Grimmauld Place in low spirits due to the lack of progress in locating one of the remaining horcruxes late that night. The next day, Azalea took her frustration out on a group of six Snatchers after she had Fawkes drop her in the middle of nowhere. She disabled four of the six Death Eaters before the other two escaped using portkeys they had had on them. She took a moment to verify that all four were marked before she killed them and removed their masks.

When she discovered that Dolohov was one of the four she captured she felt a bit better as she had just eliminated one of the nastier Death Eaters. Her first instinct was to tell Horatio about defeating the wizard (because the man had seriously injured Horatio during the Ministry fight) before she recalled that she wasn't actually speaking to her former best friend.

For the rest of the month, Azalea would split her time between searching the castle and ambushing the Snatchers; the twins occasionally tagging along to help with both tasks when Azalea didn't feel the need to be alone. Most times the seventeen year old welcomed their help searching the castle because they helped her cover more ground and keep better track of the places she searched. On the other hand, she preferred handling the Snatchers alone because it allowed her to take her growing frustrations out on them instead of her snapping at her friends and allies.

When the two of them did join her on those ambushes, they quickly learned to stay out of her way; merely making certain that none of the Death Eaters could escape by throwing up anti-transportation wards while Azalea fought. The rest of her allies (not counting Bill and Fleur) were out rounding up dementors, putting down feral werewolves and vampires, and evacuating muggleborns and halfbloods (including Horatio and his parents) from the British Isles (most of them being sent to France, Spain, Germany, and Sweden).

They were also doing everything they could to keep the conflict in the wizarding world but that was nearly impossible due to Voldemort and his Death Eaters attacking muggles at every opportunity that arose.

The goblins began showing her considerably more respect by the end of the month; after rumors had spread up and down the tunnels about the thirty-seven Death Eaters that she'd taken out over the course of three weeks (most of them in the last week). Most of the Death Eaters had been low level newbies that signed up right out of school but the fact that she was taking down multiple opponents with a ruthlessness that the goblins could appreciate was enough to earn the blood thirsty creatures' respect.

That she'd freely authorized the return of goblin artifacts without any prompts or demands from the goblins was another plus in her favor as was her willingness to pay the appropriate fees without haggling or complaining. Additionally, the witch had shelled out thousands of her own galleons and paid the goblins to research a way to ward against the Dark Mark; in order to prevent Death Eaters from entering (or in some cases exiting) a given location. The dead Death Eaters she had presented to them helped in the research as those gave them the means to test the magic in the Marks and to test the effectiveness of the experimental wards without any risk to the researchers.

Once the wards had been developed, Azalea then paid the goblins to set them up around a number of important locations including Diagon Alley, Kings Cross Station, the Hogwarts Express, Hogsmeade Station, Hogsmeade Village, Godric's Hollow, St. Mungo's Hospital, and a number of important locations within the muggle world such as the Queen's residences, the Prime Minister's residence and office, and the Parliament building.

She would have asked them to set up the wards around the Ministry of Magic but there were far too many people moving in and out of the building at all hours and blocking the marked Death Eaters could see far too many innocents harmed. The complex ward scheme at Hogwarts prevented the goblins from putting up new wards any closer than Hogsmeade; meaning that they couldn't ward the castle or grounds. It didn't help that the newly appointed Headmaster was a marked Death Eater who had direct control of the castle wards. Still, at least the students would be safe while traveling on the Hogwarts Express or when they visited Hogsmeade Village.

When the news broke that Azalea was claiming vaults through conquest on the twenty-eighth of August, the purebloods on the Dark Lord's side raised hell as some of the older families were very rich (those of Voldemort's inner circle most especially). On the twenty-ninth, the goblins were ordered to apprehend the witch and hand her over the next time she set foot in the bank. The goblins were prepared for the demand. Instead of complying, they enacted measures on the thirtieth that would prevent anyone wearing a Dark Mark from entering the bank, initiated new banking regulations, put out a revised fee schedule, and placed several restrictions on all Ministry employees and known Voldemort supporters.

The new regulations required certain patrons to fill out detailed request forms in triplicate in order to access their vaults (for both deposits and withdrawals), to exchange currency, to request goblin services (such as property assessments, dark artifact cleansing, or warding), or even just to see a teller. Additionally, all clients were required to submit to mandatory identity checks each time they spoke with a goblin (even if they'd spoke to a different goblin five minutes earlier) and be tested for traces of Compulsion Charms or the Imperius Curse. Individuals found in the possession of keys that did not belong to them would be subjected to Goblin Law and held in the Gringotts Dungeons until it was proven that they didn't steal the key from the rightful owner.

The new restrictions included a limited withdrawal amount per day (no more than fifty galleons per person), a limit of the number of people from the immediate family of the employee that could withdraw money in one day (no more than two), a reduced window of time when they were allowed to conduct their business (from nine a.m. to twelve p.m. Monday through Thursday – no exceptions), and barred them from using checks or other forms of alternate payment from their vaults; meaning all Ministry employees had to withdraw funds from their accounts in order to pay for all of their purchases.

The new fee schedule charged Ministry employees (and purebloods that always gave the goblins problems) for each and every form they had to fill out, for the identity checks, for the harmful spell checks, for speaking to a teller, and for riding in one of the carts. Those fees added up to between fifteen and thirty galleons and were to be deducted from the amount of money an employee of the Ministry could withdraw from their vault (meaning that a Ministry employee would only be able to take between twenty and thirty-five galleons out at the time or twice that if a second member of their family visited the same day). That was on top of the monthly vault rent they were charged (which had been doubled along with the fees for all other services).

In other words, those people that were threatening a profitable enterprise (the goblins had earned close to three million galleons in less than a month working with Azalea, after all) would soon find themselves being sickled and knutted to death. More importantly, Gringotts had just taken sides in the current conflict and they were firmly on Azalea's side because she made it worth their time (and money) for them to work with her. She also treated them with far more respect than most pureblood witches and wizards did and showed that she was willing to respect their culture instead of forcing them to adhere to the wizarding world's culture.

The goblins weren't completely heartless though and those employees that voluntarily signed sworn oaths with a blood quill stating that they had nothing to do with the illegal warrants issued for the arrest of Harriet Potter and that they did not agree with the Ministry's stance on her actions regarding the terrorists threatening their community had those fees and restrictions waved. Those that broke that oath or those that lied about their involvement were quickly identified when their signatures turned from the color of dried blood to black and were subsequently banned from Gringotts for ten to twenty years (depending in the severity of their breath of oath).

Those broken oaths soon gave new meaning to the words Black Listed within the wizarding community.

The Ministry was not happy, the purebloods were not happy, Voldemort was more than just not happy, and the Death Eaters were not only unhappy but downright fearful of their master's fury. Not only had the Dark Lord been losing followers left and right since Harriet Potter had resurfaced after having vanished off the face of the earth a year earlier but now the Girl-Who-Lived had just pulled the Dark Lord's vast fortune out from under his feet. That was on top of the Dark Lord's anger over being unable to use the mental connection he'd once had with the upstart witch and the fact that she'd not fallen for his false vision again like he'd thought she would.

Sadly, those that stood against everything that Harriet Potter stood for had never expected for the wench to work with the goblins (because such a thing was unthinkable to those that saw non-humans as being beneath them) and now they were learning just how vicious goblins could be without resorting to spilling blood.

On the morning of the thirty-first, Azalea was up at the crack of dawn emptying her stomach. Due to the new measures that the goblins had enacted, she fully expected a large force of Death Eaters and Imperiused innocents to attack the bank in order to reclaim the Dark Lord's funds. Azalea and her small team of courageous witches and wizards would be there waiting for them and the thought of killing yet again sickened the witch.

Once her stomach stopped its heaving, Azalea stood up, took a shower, and dressed for battle before heading down to the kitchen to have a bit of dried toast for breakfast. She'd have skipped eating altogether but knew the elves would hound her about not eating and then they'd tattle on her to Kurapika in a heart beat and Azalea didn't want him to think she wasn't taking care of herself.

As it was her diet was shot all to hell as she always threw up the moment she returned home after a battle (if she didn't throw up immediately after the fight) and now here she was getting sick at just the thought of fighting another. The elves had at least started providing her with dishes that were more on the bland side and non-acidic in addition to providing her with supplemental nutritional potions that boosted her body's natural ability to absorb nutrients and provided the vitamins and minerals that she wasn't getting through her diet.

"You look like crap, lass," Moody growled at her by way of greeting the moment she entered the kitchen.

"Thank you, Moody; I feel so much better knowing I look as bad as I feel," Azalea snarked back as she fixed herself a cup of peppermint tea (to settle her stomach) and accepted the plate of dry toast Kreacher handed her.

"Are you even going to be able to handle your part today?" Moody demanded as he ignored her sarcasm.

"Yes, mother."

"Don't sass me, lass."

"Then don't baby me, old man," Azalea snapped back as she glared at the disfigured wizard.

He scowled at her in return but said nothing further and Azalea turned her attention to her unappetizing breakfast. The twins joined them a moment later and Azalea glared at them the moment they glanced in her direction and opened their mouths to comment on how terrible she looked. The identical redheads wisely chose to keep their comments to themselves as they helped themselves to the full fry-up that Kreacher had made for them. The smell of grease from the bacon and sausage they were eating made Azalea gag and picked up her toast and slid further down the table from them to escape the scent.

Before any of them could say anything about her behavior, Remus and Tonks stumbled into the room looking half dead on their feet (neither one of those two were morning people). The silence stretched out for another twenty minutes as everyone ate and Azalea closed her eyes and allowed herself to slip into her memories of Kurapika in order to avoid thinking about the battle to come. The sound of the Floo activating pulled her from her thoughts several minutes later and she rose to greet the others that would be participating in today's fight.

There was Charlie Weasley with four of his fellow dragon handlers, Victor Krum with a dozen Durmstrang Alumni and a couple of his Quidditch teammates, Bill and Fleur Weasley with three additional curse breakers from Gringotts, and five former muggleborn aurors that had quit the force the moment word got out that Scrimgeour had been killed. Azalea hugged the four that were her friends and shook hands with the rest and thanked them all for showing up on such short notice.

She then directed them into the kitchen and told them to help themselves to breakfast. Kreacher was positively gleeful over a chance to cook for such a large crowd and Azalea knew Dobby would be jealous that he missed out on all of the cooking as her first elfish friend was currently off delivering a detailed report to Chairman Netero regarding the state of affairs in the Wizarding World. While the newly arrived men and women were eating, Azalea stepped out to grab the boxes of graphorn dueling robes that she'd recently purchased for those that would help her fight.

The twins, Moody, Remus, Tonks, Bill, and Fleur already had robes or cloaks that they'd either purchased themselves or that Azalea had purchased for them; it was the only thing Azalea insisted upon for all of those that took up their wands to fight on her side. They either bought a set of high quality protective dueling cloaks or robes or she would buy them for them; no exceptions. Those cloaks had saved her life far too many times for her not to insist.

All of the cloaks were done in Gryffindor colors with a phoenix poised in flight stitched onto the back in order to identify them as members of the Order of the Phoenix. Azalea had had a phoenix added to the back of her cloak as well, though the one on hers was covered in metallic yellow, orange, and scarlet colored flames that shimmered realistically and identified her as the new leader of the Order. That had been added to her cloak shortly after the current members of the Order had unanimously voted her in as such despite her protests.

The majority of the original members of the Order had walked away that day because they had not wanted to follow someone who was not Dumbledore and because they had not approved of Azalea's willingness to kill Death Eaters.

Furthermore, all members of the Order now carried crystal phoenix pendants that served as communication beacons that would grow warm when they were being called to arms and cold if they needed to retreat. The pendants also doubled as blood bonded portkeys that would take the wearer to Headquarters (Grimmauld Place) and beacons that could be used to find a missing member. The twins had been the ones to come up with the pendant idea by basing it off of the earring set that Azalea had created to stay connected to Kurapika and the galleons they'd used for the DA; only far more simplistic and at the same time far more complex.

Azalea levitated the boxes holding the cloaks back into the kitchen where she directed them to their intended recipients with a casual flick of her wrist. She then returned to the entryway to stretch and warm up while she waited for the others to finish eating and get ready to go. A glance at her watch let her know they had another half an hour before they were due in the Alley. After a few minutes, Azalea stopped and stared off in the direction she knew Kurapika could be found as she reached up to clasp her left earring; her thoughts once again focusing entirely up her absent lover.

"Is everyzing alright, mon cher?" Fleur asked as she joined her a moment later.

"I'm fine," Azalea automatically replied as she dropped her hand and half turned to face the older witch.

"You are most certainly not fine; you are pale, you are not sleeping properly (do not try to deny it, I can see ze circles under your eyes), and you are not eating properly. Silly leetle girl, you have a phoenix; why have you not gone to see your man?"

"I can't go to him until I am finished; it would break me to have to leave him again."

"And yet it is killing you to be away from him."

"Neither can live while the other survives," Azalea quoted softly as she briefly met Fleur's eyes before turning her eyes to the door as the others began filing into the room.

Fleur muttered something uncomplimentary under her breath in French but Azalea pointedly ignored her as she glanced at everyone to make certain that they all were wearing their robes and pendants before she apparated to Diagon Alley. The rest of their small group arrived in staggered groups of twos and threes over the course of the next five minutes and Azalea watched them as they dispersed up and down the alley to take their places on the rooftops. She diligently marked their positions so she would know where each and every one of her allies was standing when the shit hit the fan.

Once they were all in place, Azalea walked down the middle of the street towards Gringotts where she took her place on the steps leading into the white marble building. She was the visible face of the Phoenix. She was all the Death Eaters ever saw enough of to remember. Everyone else in her group made up the shadows that supported her light; they allowed her to burn brightly while she in turn shielded them from the backlash of anger from those under Voldemort. In the last three weeks she'd been given a new name to go with her titles of the Girl-Who-Lived, the Chosen One, and Undesirable Number One (the last one courtesy of the new Minister); they were calling her the Bloody Phoenix.

She was vengeance and justice and she was death incarnate for those that had been branded with the snake and skull on their arms and she was not afraid to spill their blood, pure or not.

And she hated herself for what she'd become.

At the same time, she would not change any of the decisions she'd made over the past fourteen or fifteen months. She was stronger now than she'd ever been and she was the one striking fear into the hearts of her enemies. They were the ones that feared to go out alone at night. They were the ones that jumped at shadows every where they went. And they were the ones that railed at the fates that no longer flowed in their favor. There were those that couldn't understand her choices but she didn't blame them for they had not lived the life she had been forced to live and she envied them their simple lives and their rose-tinted view of the world.

Azalea took a calming breath and she locked away her memories as she pulled her bokken out from the small of her back with one hand and palmed her wand in the other. The chain connecting her two wooden swords rattled loudly in the silence that filled the abandoned shopping center; the public warned to stay away for the next couple of days so that they would not be caught up in the expected battles. A second calming breath was taken before she suffused the entire alley with her Enhancer's aura in order to use En (an advanced application of Ren and Ten) to track the movements of anyone that entered the alley.

She then fell into her duelers stance and closed her eyes to meditate (which would allow her to better control the use of En) while she waited for the attack she was almost certain would happen.

And happen it did.

At exactly nine o'clock, when the bank officially opened for business, fifty Death Eaters appeared at the far end of Diagon Alley and began moving up the street with purpose. The battalion of dark witches and wizards faltered the moment they caught sight of Azalea standing poised for battle on the steps of the bank; all of the masked individuals well aware of just who she was. A few of the weaker willed Death Eaters attempted to leave but found themselves trapped in the alley thanks to the new anti-Dark Mark wards (the wards had been reversed in anticipation of the expected attacks in order to trap the Death Eaters once they turned up).

The knowledge that they were trapped angered some of the Death Eaters and frightened the less experienced ones while those that were Imperiused were unfazed in their spell induced haze.

Azalea let them stew in their uncertainty for a minute longer before she used her Flash Step to appear right in the center of their group before any of them actually realized that she'd moved. Her bokken snapped out and slammed into heads and wrists while her wand flashed out with Stunning Spells, Banishing Charms, Bone Breaking Hexes, and Full Body-Bind Curses. Just when it seemed like she would be trapped in the center of their forces and at the mercy of their more lethal arsenal of spells, Azalea Flash Stepped back to the bank's steps as her allies on the roof tops rained down spells, jinxes, and hexes on the black garbed and white masked Death Eaters.

At the same time, the Death Eaters fired upon their own forces as their curses and hexes missed Azalea completely because she was no longer there. Once those on the roofs stopped firing, Azalea Flashed Stepped back into the midst of the Death Eaters and began her battle dance again as she Stepped behind, between, and beside her targets and disabled them with the efficiency born of three weeks of minor battles and four months of hard training. She never Stepped in the same place or direction twice and never allowed her movements to become predictable as she spun, ducked, whirled, jumped, and twisted this way and that.

Verbal curses soon joined the literal curses as the fifty Death Eaters became forty and then thirty and then ten until there were only two left standing. The rest of the Order meticulously picked off those that tried to flee from the battle on foot.

Azalea dropped both remaining Death Eaters with a wide swing of her bokken before she grabbed both blades in her left hand as she stood alone in the middle of the alley surrounded by the fallen. The multiple cracks of apparation signaled the arrival of half her allies from the rooftops (the rest standing guard just in case) and the seventeen year old witch calmly tucked her swords away and began the tedious process of weeding the Imperiused out from the Initiated. When she unmasked a marked Draco Malfoy, Azalea wasn't really shocked or surprised; she'd already known he was a Death Eater.

She spent a long minute staring down at the wizard that had gone out of his way to make her miserable from the moment she had first stepped onto the Hogwarts Express. As a less than pure witch (her mother's ancestry unknown at the time) she'd been beneath him; not worthy of his friendship and certainly not worthy of his respect. Not even her celebrity status had been enough to garner an attempt at civility from him. Her choice in friends had only increased the animosity that had filled the blond scion of the Malfoy family as had her intelligence and talent (even hampered as they had been by the bindings on her core and the horcrux in her scar).

Instead of killing the blond like she did the other Death Eaters, Azalea set him off to one side and tied him up securely; she had a job for Draco. One that would probably get him killed anyway. She was going to give him a message to deliver to his aunt and another one to his lord and master.

"What do you think you're doing, lass?" Moody demanded when he noticed that she'd spared one of the Death Eaters.

"I need a delivery boy and that's about all that that particular scum qualifies as," Azalea retorted as she unmasked the next individual to find an unfamiliar woman's face. Removing her left sleeve revealed an unblemished arm and a quick dark detection spelled revealed that the mark had not been applied in a place other than the left arm (a few newer recruits had had them placed on their backs or their shoulders in an attempt to hide their status). "No sense in risking one of my elves or one of my feathered friends when I've over two score of potential messengers right here and Malfoy _is_ a classmate."

"So long as you know what you're doing."

Azalea said nothing as she moved onto the next masked individual to reveal Walden Macnair and her wand flashed up and fired a cutting curse to remove his head from his body; her memories of the man stirred her rage as she recalled the number of innocent magical creatures and beings that the man had butchered through his work as an executioner. Moody cursed as he nearly slipped on the puddle of blood that spilled out from the now dead man before he glanced up and scowled at Azalea who'd already moved on to the next Death Eater.

Macnair was one death that Azalea would neither regret nor suffer a guilty conscience from; as far as she was concerned he was just one more rabid dog that she'd put down.

* * *

**Translations:** French to English

Mon cher – my dear

**Notes:**

Leetle – the one instance where I misspelled the word little in this chapter was done so intentionally as I wanted Fleur to emphasize that word through her accent in her attempt to needle Azalea about her stubbornness in staying away from Kurapika despite her ability to go to him in an instant. The reasons why Azalea is staying away were already covered in the story, so please don't hound or castigate me about how easily she could just go and visit him; like she said, it would kill her to walk away from him a second time. Not to mention that she doesn't want to pull his attention away from his own quest.

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**11-01-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	31. Messages x and x Misery

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Thirty-One: Messages x and x Misery

After the rest of the Death Eaters had been dealt with and the last of the Imperiused victims had been sent off to St. Mungo's, Azalea finally returned her attention to Draco Malfoy. As she walked up to his unconscious and bound form, Azalea pulled on her memories of the grief and guilt that she'd felt the night Sirius had died, her memories of the night that Dumbledore had been killed, and the unpleasant memories of her match against Leroute.

Magic and madness danced in her eyes as she crouched down in front of Draco and woke him up with a strong Stinging Hex to his crotch that had the wizards who had been watching her at the time wince and squirm uncomfortably.

"Mudblood bitch, I'll make you pay for that," Draco hissed in a high voice that was tight with pain as he writhed in the ropes she'd tied him in.

"Oh…? Really…? The pretty little ferret wants to play?" Azalea asked in a sing-song voice as she reached out to drag her wand down the side of his face. "Are you sure you want to play? I know you don't like fighting a fair fight, little ferret, and I can only give you so many handicaps before the game becomes boring."

Draco flinched away from both the touch and the madness that was practically oozing from the witch; the other teen was intimately familiar with that kind of madness thanks to his familial connection to one Bellatrix Lestrange. The blond ferret bolstered his courage a minute later to spit out, "The Dark Lord will kill you for what you've done. He will make you suffer."

"I'm astounded! Normally, you would have threatened me with your father first; we all know the little blond ferret never fights his own battles, after all. His favorite words 'when my father' always dropping from his lips the moment his poor little feelings are hurt. Where is your daddy now, little ferret? Why can't your precious daddy help you now?"

"Leave my father out of it!"

"Oh, I touched a nerve did I? Are you missing your daddy? Did the Dark Lord punish your daddy for being a pathetic failure? After all, not even your precious daddy could handle a few half-trained children when his team outnumbered them two to one. Not only did your daddy fail his mission that night, he also got himself caught. Little Tommy was mighty upset with your weak and pathetic daddy that night… I know he was."

"Shut up!"

"Come to think of it… Auntie Bella was there that night too, wasn't she? How does it feel to know that two of your vaunted pureblood relatives couldn't even stop little ole me?"

"Shut up, you bitch! You're dead!"

Azalea reached out and threaded her hands into Draco's hair before fisting her hand and yanking his head back hard as her faced turned stony. Her eyes then glittered darkly as she hissed out, "No, you are as good as dead, Draco. I could have chosen one of your many companions to deliver my message but I thought it would be poetic justice to make the pathetic pureblood prince of Slytherin House deliver my message to the inbred halfblood born of a squib and a muggle at whose feet he grovels beneath."

"Liar! The Dark Lord is the heir of Slytherin! His blood is the purest!"

Azalea laughed soft and low, a terrible sound that made Draco piss and shit his pants as she tightened the fist that held his hair and stretched his head back even further as she tapped her wand against his Adam's apple. She then whispered, "Oh, his blood was pure alright; pure shit. Now…? Now he's not even _human_ let alone a pureblood wizard. His body was made through a dark ritual using the bones of his _muggle_ father, the flesh of a man who is more _rat_ than human, and _my_ blood… so what does that make him now, little ferret?"

"You lie…"

"Why would I lie? What would I gain from muddying the truth when the truth is so much more terrible than anything I could ever make up? It does not matter whether you believe me or not anyway because I know the truth as does the monster you call master. And he will make you suffer for knowing his darkest secret whether or not you believe it to be truth or lie because he will know that you know that his mother wasn't even a proper witch and that his father was a lowly muggle that his mother entrapped with love potions."

Draco's next protest was cut off when Azalea slapped him across the Adam's apple hard with the handle of her wand (but not hard enough to actually do any real damage); forcing the muscles in his neck and throat to seize up. She then began humming God Save the Queen beneath her breath as she casually hit him with Stinging Hexes of varying strengths in all of the tender places that she knew would cause him the most pain. The moment he actually recovered enough to scream, Azalea stopped and calmly met his gaze with golden eyes void of all emotion as she addressed him again.

"I will only say this once, Draco; I am allowing you to live simply because you are of use to me," Azalea purred as the madness slipped back into her voice again. "There is bound to be something of use in that otherwise empty head of yours and even a twat like you can sit still long enough for anyone to read your mind."

The moment she finished speaking, Azalea used Legilimency to slide into Draco's mind to raid all of the memories he had regarding the Dark Lord, Bellatrix, and his father; sliding easily passed the pain weakened Occlumency shields she'd not known were there. It only took her fifteen minutes to get everything she needed and she prepared to back out only for a flash of scarlet to catch her attention. She chased the small flash through his mind and soon found the memory that had caught her attention.

Only the horror of what she just learned kept her from destroying the blond's mind in her rage and she couldn't leave his mind fast enough at that point. She sat back and stared at him with disgust and loathing for a long minute before she locked away her emotions once more so she could finish what she'd started.

"Now pay attention, little ferret; I want your vaunted Dark Lord to have a crystal clear memory so that there is no room for misinterpretation in my message, " Azalea stated before she paused a moment to consider exactly what she wanted to say to Voldemort before she continued in a hard, cold voice that promised pain and death.

"Tom, I am coming for you. There is no place you can hide that I won't find you. The murderous scum that you've surrounded yourself with can not protect you. Your days are well and truly numbered. Your fate has been set in stone since before I was born and we both know it, Tom. Do be sure to send Bella out to play soon; she and I have unfinished business between us. Toodles."

Azalea stunned Draco at that point and then very carefully drew an outline of a phoenix in flight on Draco's face using the Boil Hex. It was mean and unnecessary but so worth it in her eyes. As was the kick she aimed at his crotch after she stood up. Fawkes then appeared and grabbed hold of the unconscious teen and deposited him outside of the wards in Knockturn Alley so that when he woke up, he could find his way back to the Dark Lord.

The moment he was gone, Azalea folded in half and vomited as the reality of what she'd just done slammed into the forefront of her mind now that her emotions and magic were no longer buffering her from the madness she'd wrapped herself in.

"Are you alright, Azalea?" George asked softly as he walked up to her and placed his hand on her back.

"I'm fine. I just hate doing that."

"Yeah, I can't imagine wrapping yourself in insanity being any fun," Fred interjected as he leaned down to search Azalea's face. "You do know that was a little disturbing to watch, right?"

"I know."

"So long as you know; now go home and sleep," George ordered as he pulled the shorter witch towards the apparation point near the entrance to the Alley. "We'll finish up here."

"No. I have to see the goblins first."

"It can wait until tomorrow," Fred insisted.

"No, it can't. I have an urgent appointment at Malfoy Manor tomorrow."

"Say what?" both twins demanded in stereo as George tripped over his feet and nearly sent both of them tumbling to the ground.

"The Malfoys have several things that don't belong to them and I will not allow them to keep them."

"What are you talking about?"

Azalea shook her head, just thinking about wizards being involved in what happened to Kurapika's clan was enough to make her sick to her stomach and she knew from Draco's memory that his father had owned at least seven sets of the Kurta Clan's scarlet eyes. If it was the last thing she did, she'd see to it that those fourteen eyes (and any others that were found in the possession of other witches and wizards) made their way into Kurapika's hands. There was no way in hell she was going to tell Kurapika about wizards collecting his family's eyes until she could give them back for fear that he'd attempt to take them back himself.

The witch left a pair of worried and confused wizards behind as she entered the cool interior of the bank and paused a moment to let her eyes adjust to the torch-lit dimness. She then scanned the tellers, chose one that didn't appear to have too much work piled up on his desk, and walked up to the desk of the individual in question. Azalea politely waited for the goblin to notice her before she requested a meeting with Bill's supervisor at his earliest convenience.

Ten minutes later, she was sitting in the goblin's office (whose name she still had not learned) mentally twiddling her thumbs while she waited for him to finish watching her memory of the battle she was ninety-seven percent certain he'd witnessed firsthand through one of the bank's many windows that faced Diagon Alley.

"We are one body short; the elves only brought us twenty-one dead Death Eaters," the goblin rasped as he came out of the pensieve and practically glared at her; as if the discovery that the number of bodies they'd been given had been one body short was offensive to him.

"The last one wasn't worth anything so I threw him back as bait to catch me something bigger."

"Ah… one would almost think there was a goblin or two in your family tree with the way you think sometimes."

"I'm certainly short enough for there to have been, master goblin," Azalea petulantly groused which drew a belly laugh from the goblin.

"Indeed, I dare say you are also warrior enough. Shall we get down to business then, Miss Potter?"

Azalea nodded as they began settling up the recent acquisitions; this time putting a quarter of the combined wealth into a vault that would be set aside to pay restitution to the shopkeepers of Diagon Alley that were affected by both the return of Voldemort and by Gringotts' openly siding with Azalea. Money that would be used to help stimulate the economy the moment that the threat Voldemort and his Death Eaters represented had been ended once and for all.

In fact, Azalea stipulated that one quarter of all vaults she claimed from here on out would go into that fund so that there would be more than enough money in it to cover any damage done to any shops as well as replace products that had a limited shelf life (such as potion ingredients and food).

Half of what was left of the money from the new vaults was also set to be distributed between all of the individuals on Azalea's side that had participated in the short battle; the money going into a vault assigned to the Order of the Phoenix she had set up just two weeks earlier. That money would then be paid out to the members of the Order on a per battle (or mission) basis; those missions carrying greater risk of injury or death earning them a larger commission to compensate them (or their families if a member was killed) for the work they did on her behalf.

The last quarter was put into the War Orphan Fund that Azalea had started after her fifth Snatcher Raid; with Azalea paying any fees out of the former Gaunt Vault as she had more money than she knew what to do with now (she had claimed close to five million galleons in the beginning and that wasn't even counting the value of the artifacts that were in the various vaults she'd collected). Nor was that touching on her inheritance from her parents or godfather.

The last order of business that she had with the goblin that day was to purchase the blueprints, a map of the grounds, and detailed warding summary for Malfoy Manor for three hundred thousand galleons; plus a one hundred thousand galleon bribe for the goblin to keep silent on the matter. The calculating look on the goblin's face said that he knew that Azalea was up to something but he didn't ask for details and Azalea didn't offer him any. The witch left the moment she had all three items in her hands and Fawkes turned up to flash her back to Headquarters the moment she stepped outside of the bank.

The phoenix dropped her in the former dining room of the town house which had become the War Room shortly after Azalea and the twins had moved out of Diagon Alley. She'd refused to mix war and meals because it was a recipe for a disaster (either ruining one's appetite or giving one indigestion) and since the formal dining room was never used for meals, she'd transformed it into a large conference room. The moment her feet touched down, Azalea used her wand to attach the blueprints of Malfoy Manor and the map of the grounds up on the wall while the ward analysis was enlarged and spread out on the table.

She then spent the next hour marking the ward lines onto the map and blueprints as well as making notes on everything she'd learned about the manor from Draco's memories; including the locations of the various hidden rooms where Lucius kept his dark artifacts and the entrance to the dungeons below the basement. Once she was finished with that, she took the photo of a younger Lucius Malfoy standing in the middle of Courtroom Ten out of the files that Scrimgeour had sent to her not long before he died and enlarged it enough so that it was life sized.

She then spent the next two hours conjuring Nen darts that she used to attack the moving photo; herding the bastard into the center of the frame so he couldn't flee from the image before targeting the more tender areas.

"Any particular reason you felt the need to hide away in here and torture photographs?" Remus asked as he entered the room carrying a tray of sandwiches, soup, and tea at the end of those two hours. "And is there any particular reason why you didn't join us for lunch?"

"Hmm… his face offends me and his despicable, depraved, disgusting, and… and deplorable habits sicken me."

"What did you learn from the Malfoy scion that has you so on edge?"

"Did you know that there are wizards out there that traffic in human trophies?" Azalea inquired in a deadly soft voice as she flicked another dart at the photo and hit Malfoy Senior right between the eyes.

"Yes; it's not spoken about in polite circles but the darker families are well known to purchase questionable items from the black market that would offend the sensibilities of even the neutral families. As terrible as that is though, that doesn't really explain what has you upset right now."

"Malfoy is a collector."

"And that matters because…? He has done far worse things in his role as a Death Eater, after all."

"His _hobby_ has done the unthinkable," Azalea hiss back as she spat the word hobby like it was the foulest curse word in the world as another dart landed on Malfoy's crotch.

"And that is…? I can't exactly understand if you don't give me details, Harriet."

"Because several pieces in his collection are preventing my beau from obtaining justice for his clan and family," Azalea answered wearily as she dropped into a chair and buried her face in her hands. "And I can't tell my beau because he'll insist on retrieving them himself and damn the consequences of trying to face one of Riddle's inner circle alone. If I manage to collect all seven sets, then I can't even give them to Kur… my beau because then I'd have to explain where I got them from and he'll jump to the conclusion that there might be more collectors amongst the wizards and he'll go hunting for them and… and… they'll kill him! I can't lose him to magic, Moony; I just can't!"

"So we find them first and you keep them safe until we can return every one of them to him," Remus stated simply as he dropped down beside the witch. "I have contacts with connections to the black market and we can get the names of those families that are or were known to collect. Not all of them will be Death Eaters but we can start with them and work our way down the list."

"You make it sound so simple."

"Well, on paper it is simple; actually getting out there and tracking everything down is going to be the hard part," Remus dryly pointed out. "Now, what is it that we are looking to retrieve?"

"I need an oath before I tell you. I respect you and trust you up to a point but I will not speak of my beau and his past without an oath; I may like and respect you but he is my world."

The oath was given without much fanfare and the room locked down and warded to the hilt to insure the two of them would have complete and utter privacy (even from Moody's enchanted eye and any wandering portraits) and no chance of being interrupted. Remus pushed the tray of food at the witch and poured her a cup of tea at that point while he waited for her to start speaking.

"Have you ever heard of Scarlet Eyes or the Kurta Clan?"

"The Scarlet Eyes are considered one of the seven most beautiful objects in the world," Remus replied reflexively as he furrowed his brow. "They have always been rare items on the black market as no one knew where the clan lived and individuals from the clan were only known to leave their hidden home on very rare occasions. Then about five and a half years ago the black market was flooded with over thirty pairs; dropping the price of them. Over the past four years, prices have soared even higher than before the influx due to rumors that every last man, woman, and child of the clan was slaughtered for their eyes."

"The rumors of the clan's decimation are mostly true; however, there was one survivor."

"How do you…? Your boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"I'd worry more about slave traders getting a hold of him and using him as breeding stock to produce a steady supply of Scarlet Eyes," Remus grimly pointed out. "How serious are the two of you anyway? Because you do realize that if you marry him, then your children would be in grave danger whether or not they inherit the Kurta Eyes simply because they are his children, right?"

"Any child I have will forever be targeted no matter who the father is because of my Potter Heritage and I don't know how serious we are… we've not talked marriage, exactly, but we've made promises to one another. He… there will never be another for me, Remus."

"Just how close were the two of you? He didn't take liberties…?"

"He took nothing that I did not freely give him," Azalea interrupted with a soft growl as her inner nature stirred at the near insult to her lover. "And no one has any right to judge me for my choices."

"You slept with him." It wasn't a question.

"Willingly and with Sirius's blessings."

"Sirius is dead; how the hell could he have given you his blessings?"

"I died."

"Come again…?"

"I died. I was legally and physically dead for over twenty minutes and the only reason I didn't stay dead was because of the prophecy that the Order was guarding in my fifth year. Sirius was waiting for me on the other side."

"Do you love the boy?" Remus asked after taking a long moment to digest Azalea's shocking revelation about her death; something she'd neglected to inform him of sooner because of how hectic things had been since her return to Britain.

"I don't know… I want to believe I do and Fleur insists that what I feel for him is love but I have nothing to compare it to so I couldn't say whether it is or not. All I know is that without him I am nothing."

"And his feelings for you?"

Azalea held up her left hand and the frozen flames inside of the crystal heart on the ring Kurapika had given her glittered like living flames in the light, "He told me he loved me and it wasn't just so he could get into my robes."

"Then I will say nothing further on that subject. And just when were you going to tell me that you have been working on becoming an animagus?"

"Animagus?" Azalea parroted back in confusion as she didn't see the link between the subject they were just discussing and her alternate forms.

"I could smell the wild cat on you the moment you growled at me; Moony isn't that fond of cats."

"Oh… in that case I've been able to transform since the end of May."

"You've already completed your form? How long were you working on it?"

"Between four and five months."

"Impressive. So, which cat?"

"You figured that out too?"

"I did say I could smell the wild cat on you…"

"Oh, you meant which species… for a moment I thought you'd…"

"You thought I'd what?"

Azalea laughed and jumped up on the table as she changed mid-leap into Pixie before she walked right up to him. Remus was more than a little surprised before he grew confused as he furrowed his brow as if trying to figure out what he was missing. The man then cried out in shock and threw himself backwards off of the chair when Azalea changed into her tiger form as she sprawled out on the table. She sneezed out a laugh before letting out a yawn while her tail tapped out a steady rhythm on the table.

She unconsciously let out a growl when she caught the scent of wolf as Remus approached her once he'd recovered from the shock of her changing forms before she cut it off and huffed over the fact that her instincts had snuck up on her again. She purred when the man finally got up enough courage to scratch her behind the ears and then she sat up and licked his face before jumping off the table and returning to her human form. Laughter bubbled up from inside of her as she watched him trying to dry his face off.

"Ick… Sirius used to love doing that as Padfoot as well but tiger spit is nearly as bad as deer spit and your father's old tendency to chew hair and fur was annoying. How the in the blazes did you manage to end up with two forms though?"

"Padfoot was always more than a little free with the dog spit," Azalea agreed as she grinned at the werewolf. "As for the dual forms; that's part of the Potter Heritage. Dad would have had two forms too because all Potters are born with dual natures. I don't know if dad knew that or not though as no one has ever mentioned him having a second form."

"I never saw it if he did. Sirius might have known but well… he's beyond asking. Did you really speak to him in the afterlife?"

"Sort of, I was never actually allowed into the afterlife."

"Are you certain you just didn't hallucinate while you were near to death?"

"He told me that he went to the Ministry that night in the hopes he'd die fighting because he was already dying."

"You really did die; only Sirius could have told you that and he never would have told you while he was still alive and I know for a fact that he never put it in writing because I kept pestering him to tell you. He never even told Dumbledore that he was dying either though and he swore up and down that it was better if you never knew he took the coward's way out."

"I know… he told me."

"You're not ranting about that as loud as I'd have expected you to."

"We both know you're the bigger drama queen here, Moony. Besides, I've had seven months to get over learning the truth."

"I am not a drama queen."

"Pfft… someone steals a piece of bacon from your plate and you practically chew their arm off."

"That was my bacon."

"And Hedwig needed a treat and I didn't have one for her."

"There was an entire plate of sausages sitting on your left."

"Yes, but Hedwig prefers bacon and it was just one piece of bacon; besides, Kreacher made you another rasher."

"And you could have easily just asked Kreacher to make Hedwig some in the first place."

"Drama queen."

"Incorrigible brat," Remus huffed with a laugh. "So, Malfoy Manor…?"

"I'm hitting it tomorrow."

"Who are you taking with you?"

"No one; I'm going alone."

"Harriet…"

"Nope. I can get in and out of the wards without drawing any attention to myself and I can't do that for anyone else. I know exactly where it is I have to go and once I'm inside I will have as much time as I need to deal with anyone there."

"And if the Dark Lord is in residence there?"

"He's not; he's currently staying at the Lestrange Mansion and will head to Nott Manor after that."

"And you know that how?"

"Legilimency."

"And if you trigger the wards?"

"The Malfoy Manor never put up animagus detection wards nor do they have any wards that would prevent an animagus from slipping onto the property. Once inside the manor, it won't matter because the wards don't cover the inside of the manor according to the survey."

"How certain are you that the blueprints, ward schemes, and map are all accurate?"

"Because the goblins know I'd raze their bank to the ground if they sold me fakes for four hundred thousand galleons?"

"What!?" Remus gasped as he choked on air.

"Three hundred thousand for the documents and one hundred thousand for their silence; money well spent if it helps me help Kura find closure for his clan."

"Kura? Is that your beau's name?"

"Yes… though his full name is Kurapika."

"And is there a reason you spent so much money for these…?" Remus demanded as he gestured to the blueprints and map stuck to the wall.

"I only paid one hundred thousand for each document and I'd have paid ten times that much to get my hands on them."

"Who are you going to have as backup in case something goes wrong?"

"I suppose this is where you demand to be included or threaten to involve the rest of the Order?"

"Always knew you were a smart girl."

"Don't make me hex you in tender places."

"Where will you need me to wait?"

"They have a dark creature ward around the edge of the property line; so well back away from the estate. I'm guessing they didn't trust their allies not to double cross them at some point as that ward was the most recent addition and that was set up in seventy-nine. Right about the time Mrs. Malfoy learned she was pregnant, I'd hazard to guess, since the timing would be about right."

"Yes; and Greyback was known for targeting children."

"He blackmailed families… hundreds of them. He kept detailed records of them all…"

"Yes, the goblins solicited my advice on the matter earlier this month."

"I already knew about that; I was the one that had given them your name."

"I should have known you put them up to that. So the creature wards…?"

"Those particular wards start here at the poplar line and extend outwards around the property before pulling back at the gates; allowing werewolves and vampires to approach the gates and only the gates to gain entrance. It's an intentional weakness that limits their chances of surprising the residents."

"Yes, funneling them into one opening that is relatively easy to defend according to the map is a common tactic for all ward schemes."

"Exactly. Most people don't think twice about obvious weaknesses like that but Bill was telling me that the Egyptians used to use stuff like that to lure would be thieves into some downright nasty traps. That's one of the reasons why I'm going to avoid the gate entirely when I slip in; I'm going to enter here where the wards are about average in strength as the strongest point is usually another obvious trap."

"Why not flame in via Fawkes Express?"

"Anti-phoenix ward on the entire house; that one's been around since the early forties."

"Dumbledore had a phoenix… and the war with Grindelwald…"

"Yep, and I bet Lucius's father or grandfather was involved in that mess and he feared repercussions from Dumbledore either just before or just after Grindelwald's defeat."

By suppertime Azalea had finished making her plans with Remus adding input that helped fill any holes. Dobby popped in around that time with an order to come eat before he noticed the information on Malfoy Manor spread about the room and the little elf immediately grew distraught when he learned that Azalea was going to invade the manor. The elf then gave them even more information about the wards and layout of the huge six story house (three below ground and three above not counting the attic, basement, and dungeons).

The elf also proved to be a font of information in regards to other individuals that were trophy collectors; people that had been given a tour of Lucius's collection, people he'd purchased items from or sold items to, and people that the man had figuratively cursed because they'd purchased something he'd wanted.

Azalea was at least thankful that the Black Family was not listed amongst any of the names offered. She did not think she could have ever looked Kurapika in the eye again if she had learned that any of the money she'd inherited had come from the sale of the eyes of his clan. It was bad enough that at least two members of her godfather's family had married into a Flesh Collector's family; Narcissa and Bellatrix. Well, technically, Lucius was actually a distributor not a collector but Lucius had done business with the Phantom Troupe in the past; purchasing rare and stolen items in bulk from the Spider (which made him the worst offender).

The Lestranges, on the other hand, were one of the largest collectors of human trophies within the magical community and their collection sported a number of pieces they'd personally harvested from their victims in addition to those they purchased off of the black market (such as the Eyes of the Kurta).

A note was slipped off to a certain cutthroat goblin with a list of names and an authorization for the release of funds for the purchase of blueprints, maps, and ward schemes of the main residences of those on the list. Most of them were known dark-sided families though there were one or two light-sided ones (such as the Prewitts) and Azalea had been certain to include the information that every single one of the families had ties to the Malfoy family (and therefore ties to the Dark Lord).

That was important as it gave her a reason to go after those families without anyone getting suspicious about her going dark. Of course, once word got out that some of the light families weren't quite so light the attention would shift onto their dirty deeds rather than her attacks (or so she hoped).

It was also at that point that Azalea realized she had no clue as to how many sets of eyes were potentially out there; she never really asked for details like that from Kurapika because it had been such a touchy topic. Well, she knew he was hunting information on both his family's eyes and on the Spider in Yorknew City and she could always ask him how many he needed to still track down if he mentioned finding and retrieving any of them.

She'd have to be careful how she worded her question though because otherwise he'd suspect she knew something and while she didn't like keeping secrets from her lover, she could and would protect him from wizards. That was one reason why she hadn't told anyone outside of Remus Kurapika's name and that was only because of the werewolf's oath (and the fact that a large part of her would always fondly think of him as her Uncle Moony).

That night Azalea slept in her animagus form once more; a habit that had begun to form whenever the pain of missing Kurapika got too much for her. It didn't help the she was currently feeling guilty about what she was not telling the older teen. She woke up the next morning feeling just as crappy as she had the day before and after emptying her stomach yet again she made her way down to the kitchen for some peppermint tea and soda crackers.

She found Remus and the twins waiting for her and the witch glared at the werewolf for telling the redheaded menaces about the upcoming raid right up until she recalled that she'd been the one to tell them her plans after she'd dealt with Draco the day before. Sighing, she told them the same thing she told Remus and promised them that she'd use them as scratching posts if they didn't follow her orders exactly.

They'd met both Pixie and her tiger form (the latter of which they'd promptly named Snowbell, for some strange reason) three days after Fleur had been introduced to her forms when she'd pranked them and they were far more leery of Pixie's claws than they were of Snowbell's teeth. After Azalea choked down a handful of crackers and drank half a cup of tea, Dobby popped in and whisked the four of them off to the forest just outside of the Malfoy property one at a time. The rest of the Order would be patrolling Diagon Alley in the event that the Dark Lord attacked the place once again after the failure the day before.

The moment Azalea arrived in the forest she locked away her emotions as she focused entirely on the tasks laying before her; retrieve the Scarlet Eyes and utterly destroy the Malfoys.

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**11-01-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	32. Eyes x of x Revenge

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Thirty-Two: Eyes x of x Revenge

Azalea slipped over the top of the wall as Pixie and felt the next set of wards sliding across her fur as she dropped down on the other side. She immediately came face to face with a pair of angry white peacocks that she soon sent fleeing for their lives as she transformed directly into Snowbell the moment they tried to attack her. When she returned to her smaller form, she sneezed out a string of feline laughs over the fact that she terrified and pranked more people (and now apparently animals too) with that handy little trick.

Her amusement soon vanished when she abruptly recalled where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. Two seconds later, she was ghosting over the lush, close cropped grasses that made up the manicured lawns of the Malfoy Estate with her tail tip flicking back and forth behind her. She skirted the garden maze after giving the tall hedges a glare (the witch not overly fond of mazes or tall hedges after the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament) and took care to avoid getting too close to the veranda that over looked the maze.

As soon as she reached the Manor, she slipped into the shadows and began counting windows until she found the one she knew led into a rarely used storage room (thanks to Dobby's input) on the second floor. Climbing up to the windows in her cat form was fairly easy thanks to the old vines that covered the outside of the Manor and opening the window with a thread of Manipulator's Nen even easier. Once inside the Manor, Azalea returned to her human form and used her Nen to close the window so that the open window wouldn't bring someone to investigate.

She then spread her aura out in a twenty meter sphere around her so that she could use En to search for the current occupants of the manor as she moved through the building. Seeing that there was no one nearby, Azalea disillusioned herself before she slipped out of the storeroom as she pulled her bokken free from their sheath at the small of her back. Her first order of business was to deal with the living so that she could take over the wards to let the others inside and to lock down the property to keep others from entering the property while her two elves striped the mansion of all valuables and she personally collected the Kurta Eyes.

She knew from Dobby that the Malfoys kept five muggleborn witches to cook and clean for them and two muggleborn wizards that handled the grounds; all seven individuals kept under a combination Imperius Curse and loyalty potion to prevent them from rebelling against the family. That was in addition to the two house elves that were responsible for cleaning in those places where the muggleborns weren't allowed (such as the hidden rooms, the dungeons, and the occupied bedrooms).

The two elves and seven slaves (for that was what the muggleborns had been turned into by the Malfoys) would be freed and sent for healing; the elves to Grimmauld Place or Hogwarts and the humans to St. Mungo's. The muggleborns would be easy to free as the Imperius Curse could be broken and the potions could be flushed from their systems but the elves had to be given clothes by their master and in this case it had to be Lucius that gave them the clothes. Azalea already knew how she'd deal with that though; all she had to do was use her Nen to manipulate the Death Eater into calling and freeing both elves but first she had to find the blasted man.

Moving through the manor, Azalea hunted for her prey. She moved swiftly and silently as her aura searched through the rooms beyond the hallways she traveled through. The first person she stumbled upon was Narcissa Malfoy and Azalea didn't hesitate to knock the woman out with her bokken before dragging her into the nearest room after making certain that it was free of portraits that could tattle on her. The seventeen year old then stripped the woman of her wand and any portkeys she had before tying her up and reviving her with a quick spell.

In the split second of disorientation that the woman had upon waking, Azalea took advantage of the witch and slipped into her mind to rip away her most recent memories to get an idea of who was in the house and where everyone was currently located. The last thing she sought was proof that Narcissa was a Death Eater and the moment she had it, Azalea left the woman's mind and killed her with a Nen bullet to the heart; much as she'd killed most of the Death Eaters she'd defeated (bar a small handful that she used magic to kill).

When Azalea stepped back into the hallway, her eyes were solid gold and glittered with barely restrained rage over the knowledge that Bellatrix was in the mansion along with her husband and her brother-in-law. All three Lestranges had been sent to fetch the last two remaining Malfoys so that they could be punished for the failures of their son; apparently, the Dark Lord had been more than a little upset with the message that Azalea had given Draco to deliver.

Azalea moved with new purpose as she traveled through the halls of the manor without paying any attention to where she was going. The only thought running through her mind was the fact that she could finally, at long last, avenge Sirius's death. She'd been waiting and preparing for this moment for well over a year now and there was nothing that would keep her from avenging her godfather. Sure, she now knew that Sirius had gone to the Ministry that night with the intention of dying in a fight but that didn't change the fact that Bellatrix had killed her own cousin.

The revenge she sought had nothing to do with Sirius's motives for being in the Ministry that night and everything to do with the woman that had killed the man that Azalea had only just been beginning to think of as a father figure at the time.

In no time at all, Azalea was standing just outside of the library where she knew Bellatrix was impatiently waiting for Narcissa to return. Rodolphus and Rabastan were currently keeping Lucius company in the study; the three wizards well out of the way and otherwise occupied. Azalea smiled and for a moment her eyes glittered with madness as she struggled to bring her emotions back under her control.

Once she could think clearly, she focused on the spark of magic she felt through her En just on the other side of the door and waited for it to move further away from the open door before she slipped into the library on silent feet. Bellatrix Lestrange formerly Bellatrix Black, fell to the ground lifeless five minutes later; the insane witch dead before she even knew she was being hunted. Azalea had wanted to torture the woman, had wanted to hurt her, to make her scream, and to make her suffer, but she'd well and truly learned her lesson and the seventeen year old witch had not given the Death Eater a second chance to escape.

She'd simply walked up behind the witch and killed her by breaking her neck with a sharp blow of her bokken to the back of the neck. A Nen bullet to the heart insured that the deed was done and that there was no chance of her being revived with a spell or potion. It was an anticlimactic end to the woman but it was satisfying enough just to know that the woman would never torture or murder another.

Azalea's eyes faded back to emerald green tinged with golden dust motes when her earlier rage faded as she turned her back on Bellatrix's dead body. She walked away without looking back; her new destination the study where the last three Death Eaters currently in the house had gathered and where the entrance to the hidden chamber holding the Scarlet Eyes that belonged to Kurapika's family could be found. Intense icy coldness radiated out from her left ear lobe suddenly and Azalea froze mid-step as she reached up to clutch the earring in her hand.

The complete absence of the soft buzzing hum that had comforted her since the day she had left him coupled with the knowledge that Kurapika was currently drowning in negative emotions left her shaken to her core.

She had no idea what emotion it was that was tormenting her lover, all she knew was that it was consuming him utterly and completely in that moment. There were only two things that could drive all thoughts of her so completely from his mind; the Spider or the stolen eyes of his family. Fear coiled in Azalea's belly; fear that he'd discovered her attempt to hide the knowledge she had about the location of several sets of his clan's eyes. She then pushed that fear away as she realized she was being ridiculous; there was no way he could know that the wizarding world had purchased any of the Scarlet Eyes directly from the Phantom Troupe.

At least she hoped that wasn't the case; though the fact that he wasn't thinking of her at all supported that belief since if he was angry with her, then the earring would be humming alongside the significant drop in temperature.

Taking a few deep breaths, Azalea let herself drown in her memories of her birthday as she wrapped herself up in the comfort of the emotions that she'd seen in Kurapika's eyes when he'd told her that he loved her and of the emotions he'd stirred inside of her that day. She then focused entirely on Kurapika. After several minutes, the iciness radiating from the earring was replaced with warmth as the buzzing hum returned and Azalea smiled to herself as she let go of the earring and began moving once more; feeling far better knowing that she'd drawn such a reaction from her beau.

Azalea reached the study just a few minutes later and took several precious moments to study the positions of the three Death Eaters using En so she knew what to expect the moment she entered the room. She then tucked her bokken away before she kicked the door open to the study, catching the three men inside completely off-guard, and attacked before they could draw their wands.

Rabastan fell first as he took a Blasting Curse to the chest at point blank range; he'd been the one standing closest to the door. Rodolphus would fall next as he was banished into a suit of armor and impaled on the double-bladed axe it held. And Malfoy Senior would fight for another twenty minutes before Azalea knocked him out by dropping a bookshelf on top of him. It would have taken less time if she'd just killed him outright but she needed the sanctimonious arse alive in order to pillage his mind for information and to free the elves.

Panting heavily, Azalea grimaced as she rubbed her left shoulder; the witch had taken an overpowered Bludgeoning Hex to the shoulder from Lucius while she had been dealing with Rodolphus. The only reason she'd escaped with just that injury was because she'd had surprise on her side and because she'd been disillusioned; meaning they'd had a hard time keeping track of her as she'd danced across the office to deal with the three Death Eaters.

Stretching out her arm a bit to make certain the injury wasn't critical, Azalea crossed over the desk and stunned Malfoy for good measure before she lifted the bookcase off of him and sent all of the books back to their proper places with a flick of her wand. She then cleaned out his pockets and took both his main wand and his spare wand off of him before tying him up and dumping him into the chair he'd been sitting in when she first arrived. Azalea then spent the next half an hour using her Nen to weave several compulsions around the wizard's brain; leaving him unconscious so that he couldn't try any tricks or employ Occlumency to fight the compulsions.

And Azalea was one hundred percent certain that Malfoy Senior was an accomplished Occlumens due to his background and the fact that he was close to Snape. There was also the fact that his wife and son had had rudimentary shields and the only reason Azalea had managed to read their minds was because she'd used surprise and fear respectively to weaken their minds before she used Legilimency on them. Lucius's shields were bound to be far stronger and cause her far more trouble if she attempted to manipulate his mind while he was awake and she wasn't willing to take any risks or waste time fighting him for control.

Once she was finished with that, she moved the bodies of the dead Lestranges out of the man's direct line of sight and disillusioned them before she moved to stand behind him. She then removed the ropes binding him, woke him with a flick of her wand, and patiently waited for him to stir. He soon shook away the lingering daze brought on by the bump to the head and the stunner as groaned as he rubbed his head for a moment. In that moment of disorientation, Azalea's mental manipulations took hold of his mind and he straightened up before coldly calling for his two remaining elves.

A pair of supple leather gloves was removed from the desk and one glove was thrown into the face of each elf as he promptly told them they were being freed. Instead of leaving instantly as she'd half hoped they would, both elves looked beyond their former master to where Azalea was standing and she instantly knew they knew she was standing there; even if Lucius had no clue. The moment Lucius realized that the elves were both still present and focused on something other than him, he began to turn around and Azalea promptly stunned him a second time.

She then removed the Disillusionment Charm that had been hiding her as she waited to see what the elves wanted as there was no other reason for them to have stuck around.

"You freed Dobby four years ago," the female elf with bright topaz eyes and hawk-like nose declared.

"Yes."

"You are the one behind our master giving Minky and Tanker clothes," the male added, his bright blue eyes narrowing slightly as he rubbed at a nose that looked suspiciously enough like Dobby's nose that Azalea suspected the elf was in some way related to Dobby.

"Yes."

"What do you want with Minky and Tanker, missy girl?" Minky, the female elf, demanded.

"I only wanted to free you from the Malfoys so you could be free to find a family of your own choosing; Dobby told me that the two of you were just as unhappy as he had been serving the Malfoys."

Dobby popped into the room upon hearing his name pass through her lips a second later and the two freed elves' eyes bounced back and forth between Azalea and younger elf for several seconds before Tanker stated, "Missy girl bonded Tanker's nephew making missy girl Dobby's new family."

"Yes; he was quite persistent in attaching himself to me."

"Minky and Tanker will accept nothing less than to join Dobby's new family then."

"I barely have enough work for Dobby and Kreacher to share between them…" Azalea half protested.

"Minky good with children, Minky will take care of missy girl's little ones when they be born."

"But I'm not even married and it could be years before I have any children… if I have any children."

"Missy girl already carries the seeds to two new lives in her belly," Minky stated as she pointed at Azalea's stomach.

Azalea felt the blood drain from her face as her left hand unconsciously migrated to her abdomen while all thought ground to a screeching halt. A second later, she fell back against the bookshelf behind her as all of the little clues that had been staring her in the face for the last three weeks finally fell into place. She'd not had her period since the middle of July, she'd been feeling increasingly nauseous for the past few weeks with the past two mornings seeing her emptying her stomach, she'd tired easily even when it didn't seem like she'd been doing anything, and her breasts had been overly tender for no reason at all.

She had thought her morning sickness had been the result of the lives she taken and some of it probably had been as she'd emptied her stomach within minutes of killing the various Death Eaters. She had thought the lack of a period and her over-tiredness were both due to the stress of fighting the Death Eaters coupled with a constant string of sleepless nights. And she'd attributed her sore breasts as a side effect of having bound her chest to hide her breasts for most of the last year before suddenly going back to wearing bras in addition to the growth they'd undergone due to her healthier diet.

Not once during all that time had Azalea even considered the possibility that she might be pregnant despite the fact that she knew that the two of them had not used any protection on her birthday. She honestly hadn't thought one day spent making love would have been enough to get her pregnant; foolish of her really, to think such a thing, as she knew all it took was one time at the right time of the month for a woman to become pregnant. Azalea's knees gave out on her at that point and she slid down the bookshelf to sit on the floor over the realization that she'd been risking the life of the baby she hadn't known she carried each and every time she'd recklessly faced even one Death Eater in battle.

"I'm pregnant…?" Azalea hoarsely asked out loud as she tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she carried Kurapika's son or daughter in her womb.

"Yes, missy girl is carrying two babies," Minky affirmed as she peeked around the desk to stare at Azalea with knowing eyes. "Minky will have to knit lots and lots of baby booties, blankets, and clothes enough to dress two little ones. Minky will have lots and lots of work in missy girl's family."

"Two…? I'm pregnant with twins…? Oh Merlin, what am I supposed to tell Kurapika!? I don't even know if he likes children… we never even talked about getting married let alone starting a family. What if… what if he gets angry because I'm pregnant? What if he doesn't want any children?"

"Mistress Azalea needs to stay calm," Dobby pointed out as he wrung his hands together and watched her with worried green eyes. "This house is not safe for Mistress Azalea to forgets what she is doing. Dobby not want his Mistress Azalea or her little ones getting hurt."

"Missy girl should leave before nasty old master wakes," Tanker added seriously.

"No, I can't leave until I finish what I came here to do," Azalea wearily stated as she shoved the shocking revelation of the unborn children growing in her womb to the back of her mind and once again focused on why she was sitting in the middle of Malfoy Manor in the first place.

"Missy girl need bond Tanker and Minky so wes can help missy girl."

"Dobby and Kreacher will need help clearing out everything Mistress Azalea wished for Dobby and Kreacher to take from bad master's old house," Dobby unhelpfully pointed out and Azalea barely stopped herself from glaring at the troublesome elf. "Minky and Tanker are Dobby's family and Dobby has missed them; Dobby would be happy to have his Uncle Tanker close again."

"All house elves are evil and manipulative creatures," Azalea muttered under her breath as she gave in and scowled at the now sheepishly grinning Dobby, the elf well aware that she'd be giving in and bonding the two elves. Sighing, Azalea closed her eyes and thumped her head back against the bookshelf as she relented, "Fine… the three of you won't let me be until you get what you want anyway." She felt the two new bonds latch onto her core before she even finished speaking and sighed again as she called out, "Kreacher!"

The Black Family elf appeared seconds later and scowled at the two newly bonded elves; the older elf sensing the newly formed bonds the moment he entered the room. The elf then scowled at Azalea as if he blamed her for having to share even more of his work with the new elves. Azalea choked back the hysterical laugh that bubbled up from inside of her over the idea that she'd had any choice in the matter when it came to all four of the elves that she was now bonded with.

"We'll work out who will do what chores later," Azalea stated once she got her emotions under control. "For now, Kreacher, please collect Narcissa's, Bellatrix's, and the two Lestrange men's bodies and deliver them to the goblins at Gringotts. When you are finished with that, let those waiting outside know that I'm almost finished and will take control of the wards to let them inside sometime in the next hour. Once you have done both of those tasks, come find me and I will let you know what else needs to be done."

"Dobby, please take Tanker with you and start emptying the house; everything will need to go into one of my empty vaults in Gringotts so it can be checked over for dark magic and curses before each item is assessed to determine their worth. Please start up in the attic and then work your way down. If there is too much stuff for just one vault to hold, you have permission to make use of any of the other empty vaults I've claimed over the last three weeks. Just let the goblins know which vaults numbers are involved so they know which vaults will need to be checked."

"What does Mistress Harriet Potter need her Minky to do?"

"Please start by calling me Azalea; I am not overly fond of my first name and you do not need to address me by my last name. And I have a few questions I'd like to ask you before I give you your first task. First, how did you know I was pregnant when neither Dobby nor Kreacher could tell?"

"Minky is nanny elf; Minky was trained to know about such things and Minky could feel the thin threads of life tied to the new babies. Only female elves can be taught to feel the life threads of other beings and creatures."

"Okay, that almost makes sense. We'll have to talk later about the other differences between male and female elves when we aren't in the middle of the enemy's home. Only two more questions, first, I know there are dungeons down below the basement; is there anyone currently being held there?"

"There is being only one prisoner down in the dark; old master was holding the old Wandmaker for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Wandmaker is old and sick… he not live much longer if he not taken care of soon."

"Last question; do you know where the muggleborn servants are right now and what they are doing?"

"Old master's slaves are being locked in their rooms whenever old master's not-friends are in the house. Old master not trust his not-friends not to take advantage of old master's servants and old master not like share."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Please take the servants to St. Mungo's Hospital so that they can be released from the Imperius Curse and treated for whatever else was done to them. When you are finished with that, please go help Dobby and Tanker empty out the house. I will see to it that the Wandmaker is taken someplace safe where he won't be found again by the Dark Lord."

The elf curtsied before she popped away to carry out her tasks and Azalea let out another shaky sigh as she rubbed at her face before she dropped her hands to her belly once more as her thoughts returned to the _two_ children she now knew she carried inside of her. Before her fear and uncertainty could take a hold of her once more, Azalea grabbed hold of her emotions and locked them away in the back of her mind as she pushed herself up onto her feet and reluctantly approached Lucius Malfoy once more.

She then cast a mild Confundus Charm on the man coupled with a Compulsion Charm before she woke him up again and used his current lack of coherency combined with her earlier manipulations to slide into his mind using Legilimency so she could pull the memories from him that she'd need to take over the wards, access the dungeons and all of the hidden rooms in the manor, and any information he had in regards to the Phantom Troupe and the Scarlet Eyes.

The man then died in much the same manner that his wife had died and Azalea almost regretted sparing the two of them from the torture that Voldemort had intended to subject them to. Still, it was far better to deny Voldemort his minions than it was to know they were being tortured. This way, she also knew that there was no chance she'd have to face any of those particular five Death Eaters again.

The knowledge that she'd just taken down four more of Voldemort's inner circle (Narcissa considered one of the rank and file members despite her status as Lucius's wife) sent a spike of grim satisfaction through the witch; as did the knowledge that Draco had been dealt with as well. As she had predicted, Voldemort had not allowed her former peer to survive the moment he knew that Malfoy had learned the truth of his heritage from Azalea. She pushed the feeling aside a moment later as she focused once more on what she was doing.

The first thing that Azalea did was push Lucius's corpse out of her way so that she could access the ward keystone that sat beneath the desk. Ten minutes later, the wards were completely under her control and she dropped the defensive wards to allow the twins and Remus onto the property. She also took the time to deactivate the Anti-Phoenix Ward so that she could call on Fawkes. She then tapped the tip of her wand to the phoenix pendant she wore alongside the locket, ring, and choker she never took from her neck and concentrated on Fred, George, and Remus as she activated the spell that would warm their pendants and let them know they could enter the estate.

That done, she immediately turned her thoughts to Voldemort's unfortunate prisoner as she called out, "Fawkes." The phoenix appeared before her in a burst of flames a moment later and a brief refrain of phoenix song bolstered her spirits as Fawkes patiently waited for her to tell him why she'd called him. "I need you to collect Mr. Ollivander from his cell below and take him back to Grimmauld Place. I will also ask that you please stay and watch over him until I can have one of the elves fetch Madam Pomfrey to take a look at him."

Fawkes trilled softly and nuzzled her cheek before he flamed away to carry out her requests. Trusting the phoenix to watch over the old wizard, Azalea began the arduous task of dismantling the wards that were hiding and protecting the hidden entrance to the storeroom beneath the floor. She'd just undone the last spell and opened the trapdoor leading down into the darkened room when it occurred to her that entering the hidden storeroom might not be safe for the babies she carried inside of her.

Azalea pressed a hand over her womb, over the tiny lives buried deep inside of her, and stared down into the darkness as she again recalled just how much danger she'd unknowingly placed her unborn children in over the past month. Bitter bile rose to the back of her throat at the thought that she could have lost the babies before she'd ever learned they were there because of her own recklessness.

"Kreacher has finished his tasks, Mistress Azalea," Kreacher announced as he popped into the room and startled the witch out of her growing panic. "Kreacher is ready for his next task… Kreacher must be vigilant now to make certain the upstarts don't take any more of Kreacher's hard earned work."

"Still as ornery as ever, I see," Azalea murmured with a soft laugh and a shake of her head as she turned to face the elf that she had once hated nearly as much as she hated Bellatrix. "I will find a way to make certain that all four of you have more than enough work to keep you all busy; even if I have to send you to help clean the houses of my friends. For now, I have another dead Death Eater for you to take to the goblins and then I need you to ask Madam Pomfrey if she can go to Grimmauld Place in order to heal Mr. Ollivander."

"She can't be allowed to take him back to the castle though, because it is not safe for him there with Snape and the other Death Eaters living inside of the castle. If she can't help you, please find a trustworthy healer from St. Mungo's that can visit the house to heal Mr. Ollivander since it is not safe for him to go to St. Mungo's either. Once you have gotten him the professional help he needs, it will be your job to watch over him and take care of him until he is well enough to leave. I'll sort out the rest of the chores for you and the others once I'm finished taking care of business for the day and can return home."

Kreacher bowed to her before he grabbed Lucius's body and disappeared with another soft crack. Azalea's attention was then drawn back to the gaping hole beneath her feet and she bit her lip as she considered her choices. She felt more than a little torn because she felt it was her duty to go down there and personally reclaim the Scarlet Eyes for Kurapika and at the same time she had a responsibility to protect the unborn children she now knew she carried. The possibility that she might have already harmed one or both of the babies through her carelessness had her pressing one hand over her mouth while the other returned to her abdomen.

The sound of footsteps approaching the room she was in brought Azalea out of her fear and she buried her insecurities once more as she brought her wand up to protect herself and her babies in the event that the one or ones approaching were unfriendly. It wasn't long before three familiar sparks of light entered the sphere of En she still maintained around her and Azalea relaxed knowing that it was just the twins and Remus looking for her. Pure panic then shot through her as she wondered what the hell she was going to do when the others all learned that she was pregnant; pregnant outside of wedlock and with no guarantee that she'd ever marry the father.

Her hands flew up to her mouth and her eyes widened in fear yet again as the reality of her current condition hit her full force. In roughly eight months, she'd be an unwed mother and her children would be labeled as bastards in the eyes of the wizarding public. Her and her children would be shunned by most of the magicals because of her indiscretion. Even if she left the wizarding world, the stigma of giving birth outside of wedlock would forever be branded upon her children because of her carelessness.

The thought that she could easily rid herself of the babies and spare them the humiliation she feared never even crossed her mind as she stood rooted the floor in Lucius Malfoy's study. She'd longed for a family of her own for far too long to even consider aborting the children. The idea that someone, anyone, might demand that she dispose of the babies before they were born, however, _did_ cross her mind and it filled her with a protective fury far greater than anything she'd ever before felt. It was at that moment that the three wizards that had followed her to Malfoy Manor walked into the room and just like that the fear was back as she worried that they would know just by looking at her.

Not wishing to answer any questions they might have and not wishing to give them time to see her fear, Azalea turned her back on the three men and hurried to the desk so that she could lock down the wards to prevent other Death Eaters from entering the property. Once she'd schooled her face and buried her insecurities yet again, she led the other three down into the hidden room below the study and began casting detection spells the moment she reached the floor. Aside from a few protective wards and some preservation charms, the room was clear and Azalea breathed easier knowing that there was nothing down there that could harm her babies.

She then made her way to the far back of the room to stand in front of a glass fronted curio cabinet and stared sadly at the seven sets of scarlet tinted eyes that sat on the top shelf. Unlike Kurapika's flame filled eyes, these eyes were all dead and they held but a mere sliver of the beauty and majesty that her lover's eyes held. Sighing, she checked the cabinet for defensive wards or potential curses before she opened the door and performed a scan on the seven individual display cases holding each set of eyes. Once she was certain they were clean, she pulled her book bag around and very carefully transferred the seven cases into the old bag before she let her eyes take in the rest of the human trophies that filled the cabinet.

Her lips curled in distaste as she scanned through the mummified or magically preserved body parts of various famous individuals both magical and non-magical, the woven plates of hair from various royal families, and the assorted pieces of cloth that held the dried bodily fluids of powerful witches and wizards. There was even a canister that supposedly held the birth waters of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore or as it was labeled; the amniotic fluid from Kendra Dumbledore's first pregnancy.

Azalea's stomach rebelled at the thought that there were people out there willing to purchase such gruesome things and she quickly backed away from the cabinet before jerking around so that she didn't have to look at the things any longer.

"Did you find them, Harriet?"

"Yes; I have all seven sets."

"What did you wish to do with the rest of this stuff?"

"I don't know. Part of me wants to burn it all so that it can never be sold or collected again but there might be people out there searching for the missing parts of their family so that they can be properly laid to rest. I suppose we could box it all up to store it away for now and once it's been inventoried we can start discreetly searching for the people that have the right to make a decision on what to do with the remains of their ancestors or close family."

"Was there anything else that needed to be done here?"

"No."

"Then let's get out of here; I don't like how pale you are looking."

"Alright."

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**11-01-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	33. Wand x of x Destiny

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three: Wand x of x Destiny

Azalea stumbled and felt the urge to empty out her guts again as her portkey dumped her in the entrance way of Grimmauld Place five minutes after Remus prompted her to leave Malfoy Manor. The only thing that saved her from ending up on the floor was George's hand on her elbow; the older boy taking pity on her knowing she'd been feeling under the weather lately as well as just how much she hated traveling by portkey. Both twins snickered at her and she threw them a scowl that promised retribution but that only made them grin wider as they took her non-verbal threat as a challenge.

Huffing and shaking her head over their playfulness, Azalea headed for the stairs intent on taking a shower and securing the seven sets of eyes that she'd retrieved. She was just passing the first floor landing when she heard Madam Pomfrey's voice drifting down the hall and she paused for a brief moment as she considered checking on Ollivander before she decided that it was probably best to allow the man a bit of privacy while he was healed and that he had time to recoup before she approached him.

She also had no desire to be cornered by the Healer just yet because the witch was bound to insist on checking Azalea's health the moment the witch took one look at her; though letting the older witch examine her would be the quickest way to confirm whether or not she was really pregnant. The reminder about the babies growing in her womb had Azalea dropping a hand down to her stomach as she slowly continued up the stairs; her thoughts bouncing back and forth between happiness and fear, uncertainty and worry, self castigation and wonder.

The thought of giving birth to Kurapika's children was appealing as was the concept of having a family of her own. The possibility that Kurapika would be displeased over her getting pregnant was enough to scare and worry her because she didn't know how he felt about children. And the fact that she'd been so careless when she knew she would be coming back to the wizarding world to fight a war had her angry at herself because she feared that she'd mess up and the babies would be harmed or worse killed.

Letting out a soft whine of frustration, Azalea stepped off onto the second floor and made her way to her room. Once there, she took her time selecting a change of clothes and drawing a bath in an effort to waste as much time as possible in the hopes that by the time she finished, Madam Pomfrey would be gone. She also needed the time to come to terms with what she'd learned before her rapid mood swings drew far too much attention to her. Attention that she didn't need when one considered just how much attention she'd already been garnering due to her recent decline in health.

That was another sticking point; her health. She'd been steadily improving health wise right up until she left Kurapika, began having trouble eating and sleeping, and apparently since the moment she ended up pregnant. It had taken her months to improve her health after her short death and so far it had taken barely four weeks for her to turn into a near complete wreck. Her diet was shot to hell, she was loosing weight, and she was not getting any where near enough sleep. Azalea knew it wouldn't be long until her health started affecting her ability to fight and now she had to worry about her poor health harming the babies.

Slipping into the tub of warm water, Azalea contemplated her options. Did she take Minky's insistence that she was pregnant as fact or did she verify it with a potion, spell, or other test? Did she approach Madam Pomfrey for medical care or did she slip away to visit Dr. Mackle? Did she stop fighting altogether until after she gave birth to the twins or did she try to end things quickly before she began to show? Should she continue to hide her pregnancy or tell the others? Did she contact Kurapika now and let him know about his unborn children or did she wait until the next time she saw him?

Decisions, so many decisions she needed to make (and soon); and not a single one of them easy and each choice fraught with negative repercussions.

Sighing, Azalea dunked her head beneath the water to wet her hair so that she could wash it. She sat up a moment later and ignored the water sluicing down over her face as she poured out a measure of shampoo and warmed it up in her hands for a moment before she worked it into her hair; scrubbing at her scalp with her fingers in the hopes that doing so would knock loose the correct answers. It didn't work but at least her hair was squeaky clean now. The troubled witch rinsed her hair off, making certain to scrub all of the suds free, before she sat back up once more and worked in the conditioner.

While that was setting, she diligently scrubbed her body, her hands caressing her stomach as her thoughts focused solely on the babies growing inside of her; wondering if they would have their father's eyes or hers, if they'd be born with red, black, or blond hair, if they would be born magical or with the Kurta eyes, and if they'd take after her family or his personality wise. She also wondered if they were both boys, both girls, or if there would be one boy and one girl and if they would be identical or if they'd look completely different.

She then started wondering about the pregnancy; how much longer her morning sickness would last, when she'd feel the babies begin to move, and exactly when she could expect the babies to be born.

Knowing she didn't know all that much about babies or pregnancies, Azalea made a note to see what she could learn from Minky and if there were any books she could get that would help her. She then wondered if there were differences between magical pregnancies and muggle pregnancies or how much difference it would make that she was carrying two babies as opposed to one. That of course led to her wondering how two babies would fit inside of her once they started getting bigger because she knew she was small and still rather underweight for her current height (which was still a mere five feet).

That line of thought only led to her growing more and more worried about the pregnancy so she immediately turned her thoughts to something else before she worked herself into a panic. That something else still revolved around the babies though; this time she was back to wondering how Kurapika would take the news once she found the courage to tell him. Part of her wanted to believe that he'd be happy while the rest of her feared he'd be angry.

She shoved the fear away as she tried to imagine what kind of father he would make.

A soft chuckle bubbled up from inside of her as she imagined her lover running around chasing a pair of mischievous boys that were intent on playing with daddy's bokken. That of course led to visions of the blond teaching two miniature versions of himself how to properly wield the bokken once they were old enough. Then her imagination cooked up an image of two little girls holding a tea party with their daddy; the two girls explaining the proper way to hold a tea party while Kurapika tried not to laugh. That led to bedtime stories complete with silly and dramatic voices.

Those happy visions were shattered just seconds later as Azalea's more pessimistic side reared its head and showed her instead an angry Kurapika walking away from her. It also tormented her with visions of losing the babies before they could be born or with Voldemort and the Death Eaters kidnapping or killing the children the moment the news that she'd given birth was leaked to the public. There were also terrifying nightmares of muggles and magicals alike hunting her children down just to steal their eyes.

Before the broken sob that was rising in the back of Azalea's throat could fight its way free, the seventeen year old was pulled from her grim imagination by the sound of someone knocking on the door. The self-tormented witch took a moment to bring her emotions under some semblance of control before she called out, "Yes?"

"Mr. Ollivander is asking to see you and a Gringotts' hawk arrived carrying a package for you," Madam Pomfrey announced through the door. "The others also asked me to check on you since you've not been eating or sleeping well for some time and they were concerned because you are losing weight."

"I am so going to hex a few people in unmentionable places," Azalea growled to herself as she dunked her head to rinse the conditioner from it. She then raised her voice as she called out, "I'll be out in ten minutes."

"I'll be waiting for you down in the unoccupied room right beside the room that your elf moved Mr. Ollivander into; I expect you to come see me the moment you finish dealing with the hawk."

Sighing, Azalea pulled the plug on the tub, stood up to rinse herself off before she got out, and grabbed a towel to dry herself off with. She poked her head out of the bathroom door to make certain her room was empty before she made her way to the bed where her clean clothes were waiting and quickly dressed herself before someone else came looking for her. She then took a moment to dry her hair with a flick of her wand before pulling on her cloak and hat (so she didn't feel quite so naked) before she headed downstairs to deal with the hawk first (the Gringotts' birds known for becoming increasingly vicious if you made them wait too long).

A galleon tip tucked into the bird's leg pouch, a rasher of raw bacon, and a sincere apology saw the irate avian mollified as she removed the tube the hawk had brought her. Suspecting that the tube would contain the blueprints and other information she'd purchased from the goblins about several manors, Azalea dumped it in the War Room before she trudged back upstairs in order to face off against Madam Pomfrey; making certain to glare at the three wizards sitting around the conference table for good measure. The fact that all three of them were attempting to pull off the innocent look let her know all that three of them would need a proper hexing.

She was still contemplating on whether a Boil Hex in unmentionable places would be sufficient or if she should conjure several colonies of fire ants to place in their beds instead when she reached the room where the Healer was waiting for her.

"Don't dally outside the door, Miss Potter," Madam Pomfrey ordered when Azalea hesitated on the threshold of the guest room. "I haven't got all day and Severus is bound to have noticed my absence by now."

Azalea pressed her lips together as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her; she then glanced around the room and realized that this was the room that she'd shared with Ginny during the summer before her fifth year and during Christmas that year. She narrowed her eyes as she stared up at the frame that belonged to former Headmaster Phineas Black before she slid her gaze over to Madam Pomfrey who was raising her wand.

"Don't bother with the wand, Madam Pomfrey," Azalea ordered as her gaze sharpened; her eyes never leaving the older witch. "Kreacher!"

"I beg your pardon!?" Madam Pomfrey indignantly spluttered.

"Mistress Azalea called for Kreacher?"

"Yes, please relocate Phineas Black's frame up to the attic; I will not have a portrait that is compelled by magic to report everything it sees and hears to a known Death Eater free to walk around in my home. See to it he remains bound to that frame as well so that he may not travel to another frame in this house. The rest of the portrait frames in this room can be transferred to the third floor bedrooms where they will be both safe and out of the way."

"Yes, Mistress," Kreacher promised as he vanished all of the portrait frames in the room with a snap of his fingers before he disappeared with a soft crack.

"Are you quite finished now, young lady?"

"No, I'm not," Azalea replied carefully. "I want your word as a healer that anything you learn will not, under any circumstances, be passed onto another for any reason without my explicit permission."

"You want me to invoke the Healer's Oath?" Madam Pomfrey asked with a slight frown. "I don't know if I should feel insulted or angry that you would ask such a thing of me. I've never before had a child under my care…"

"First of all, Madam Pomfrey, I am no longer a child; secondly, I am not technically under your care any longer as I am not officially attending Hogwarts this year nor did I attend last year; and thirdly, the new Headmaster is a branded Death Eater and I will not have you passing along information about my personal health to him so that it can be passed along to the Dark Lord at the man's first opportunity because you are oath bound to report the health of 'students' directly to the Headmaster. I am not stupid and I will not risk lives to protect the spy that made my five years at Hogwarts miserable. So either you give your word as a Healer that you will speak of what you learn today to no one or you leave now."

"How do you know Severus ordered me to give him information on your health?"

"Why else would you have selected the only room in the house with a portrait of a former Headmaster in it to perform your health check? How much did you tell the portrait about Ollivander before I showed up?"

"Nothing; Mr. Ollivander is not a student and he invoked the oath as well," Madam Pomfrey revealed with a soft sigh as she raised her wand and did as requested. "I, Poppy Pomfrey, do hereby give my word as a Certified Healer that anything I learn about Harriet Azalea Potter's health from this point forward will not be passed to another in any form for any reason without her direct consent."

Azalea watched as a blue thread of magic snaked out of the Healer's wand and circled around the woman for a moment before fading away and Azalea sighed in relief as she felt the honesty in the woman's magic. The seventeen year old then began raising an assortment of privacy wards about the room (including the one that would block Moody's Eye) before she sealed the door in order to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.

"You've been spending far too much time with Alastor, Miss Potter," Madam Pomfrey critically noted with a small trace of amusement.

"I have reason to be paranoid, Madam Pomfrey," Azalea replied as she sagged back against the door and weighed the older witch carefully as she considered her earlier internal debate and worries. "I already know what is wrong with me and I have enough problems without fearing that information getting back to the Dark Lord for any reason."

"Yes, the others have told me that you believe you are just suffering from stress and a guilty conscience."

"I am but I just learned that that is only part of the problem and I am far more worried about the Dark Lord learning that I am pregnant than I am about him thinking I feel guilty over killing his minions."

"Pregnant?"

"With twins according to one of the elves I bonded this morning."

"That should not have been possible; all female students are given a preventative potion in order to prevent accidents during their Hogwarts years. You should have still been protected."

"I didn't attend Hogwarts at all last year, Madam Pomfrey, and all of the healing potions I took during that time were purchased from Diagon Alley."

"Severus would have included the inhibitor potion in the Maiden's Malady Mix he brewed for the kit he sent you."

"I haven't used any of the healing potions from the things that Snape sent me."

"That would explain how it is possible then," Madam Pomfrey sighed as she lifted her wand once more. "Go ahead and have a seat on the bed so I can take a look at you and check on the health of the babies. Can you tell me the date of your last menstrual cycle and the date of conception if you know it?"

Azalea crossed the room to sit on the bed she'd used two years earlier as she answered, "My last period ran from July eighth to July sixteenth and the date of conception was July thirty-first."

"How certain are you about the date of conception?"

"I'm one hundred percent certain; that was the day I lost my virginity and I've not been with any one else since then."

Madam Pomfrey hummed under her breath as she flicked and waved her wand over and around Azalea as she cast a series of diagnostic scans; only a handful of which Azalea recognized. The young witch tried not to fidget as most of those spells were cast over her abdomen.

"The elf was correct; you are four weeks pregnant with fraternal twins," Madam Pomfrey announced a moment later as she lowered her wand. "They are still just embryos at this point so there would be no complications if you wish to terminate the pregnancy."

"I am keeping them and there will be no further discussion of terminating my pregnancy."

"Are you certain that that is wise, Miss Potter? Your health is not exactly in optimal condition and you are in the middle of fighting against You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. Not to mention the fact that you are a single witch…"

"I don't care; I will not get rid of or give up my children."

"Very well," Madam Pomfrey murmured with a slight frown of concern. "The elf you spoke of earlier, is she a nanny elf or just a female elf with the ability to sense the life threads?"

"She called herself a nanny elf."

"Then I will leave your care in her hands in order to avoid drawing attention to frequent visits but I will still come to check on your health every four to six weeks. What symptoms are you currently experiencing?"

"I've had morning sickness for the past couple of days but I was feeling nauseous every morning for at least a week or so and I haven't really had much of an appetite at all this last month. I haven't been sleeping well and the last two weeks I've felt overtired even when I did manage to sleep a few hours at night. And my breasts have felt a bit tender. Dobby and Kreacher have been giving me nutritional potions for at least two weeks now; ever since they noticed that I stopped eating regularly."

"I can do nothing for your morning sickness but there are baby safe potions that can help you rest easier at night; regardless of the reason or reasons you are having trouble sleeping. I found no signs of any other health issues present aside from mild stress that could easily be attributed to the pregnancy, your recent activities, or a mixture of both. Do you have any questions?"

"Hundreds… but I guess the biggest ones I have right now are; when are the babies due, will transforming into my animagus form harm the babies, will my magic hurt the babies if I am casting wandlessly, and are there any kinds of magical transportation I should avoid?"

"You are due around the twenty-third of April but because you are having twins and you are such a petite witch you can expect to have them as early as the twenty-sixth of March. There are spells I can use once you reach the end of the second trimester to expand your womb in order to ease the stress on your body and allow you to carry the babies to term but I can only use them if you intend to give birth in the magical world. If you intend to disappear into the muggle world in order to protect the children, then I can not use the spells due to the risk of exposing our world to the muggles."

"So long as your animagus form is capable of carrying multiple fetuses then there should not be an issue of transforming into your alternate form though I would advise you to be extra careful while in your transformed state and avoid pulling any stunts that would put you or the fetuses in harms way if you intend to keep them. Any magic you personally cast, whether wanded or not, will affect the fetuses on some level; I suggest you avoid using any spells that have even the smallest amount of dark magic in them and avoid getting hit with any dark spells as dark magic in any form can harm the fetuses."

"As far as magical transportation goes, I'd recommend avoiding the Knight Bus, the Floo Network, portkeys, and side-along apparation; especially once you enter the second trimester as all four modes of transportation carry a risk of physical injury or place undue stress upon the traveler's body. Self-apparation is dangerous once you reach the third trimester as the pressure of apparating has been known to prematurely induce labor; something you will be highly susceptible to due to the fact that you are carrying twins. All other forms of travel are safe though I highly advise you to avoid your usual stunts if you intend to use your broom at any point."

"Finally, if you are insistent upon carrying the babies to term, then I suggest you seriously reconsider actively fighting against You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters," Madam Pomfrey finished as she gave Azalea a stern look. "I do wish you'd reconsider terminating the pregnancy; unwed mothers are not looked upon kindly in our world child and if the father is who I suspect he is, then he is not in a position to support a child or a wife due to his age and current level of maturity. I realize that you and Mr. Weasley have been an item for quite some time…"

"Why does everyone assume that I was dating Ron?" Azalea interrupted irritably as she scowled at the Healer. "He was not and will never be my boyfriend and I'd sooner kiss a flobberworm than let that greedy ignorant prat touch me."

"Am I to assume that the father is Mr. Granger then?"

"No, Horatio is not the father either nor was it any of my other classmates. Please do not ask who the father is because I will not tell you; there is no need for you to know anything about the father at all."

Madam Pomfrey pressed her lips together in disapproval but made no further comments or inquiries into the subject of the babies' paternity, instead asking, "Did you have any other pressing questions you'd like to ask me?"

"No… but if you could recommend a book that would help me know what to expect?"

"Healer Dilys Derwent wrote _A Witch's Guide to the Perfect Pregnancy_, the_ Comprehensive Compendium of Facts and Fictions relating to Magical Pregnancies_, and _Protecting the Unborn; How to Increase Your Chances of a Healthy Baby_. All three books are a little outdated but they are still the best resources available for the first time mothers. If there is nothing else, then I shall take my leave now."

Azalea dropped the wards on the room with a flick of her wrist and watched the Healer stride from the room while muttering under her breath about stubborn teenagers. She then called Kreacher to her and asked the elf to keep an eye on Madam Pomfrey for the next five hours to make certain she did not speak of what she knew to anyone. It wasn't that she didn't trust the Healer; she just didn't trust a number of people that the witch would be working with for the next nine months.

After another minute, she pushed herself to her feet and headed back up to her room only to stop when she reached the stairs as she recalled that Madam Pomfrey had told her that Ollivander had asked to see her. Sighing, the petite witch headed back down the hall until she came to the only closed door on the floor. She took a moment to school her face before she knocked on the door.

"Come in," a muffled voice called through the door.

Azalea opened the door and stepped inside to find a rather pale shadow of the man that had sold her her wand six years earlier. His pale eyes were still piercing and full of intelligence though and Azalea felt again as if she was being weighed as she moved further into the room until she was standing about five feet away from the bed; close enough so they could hold a conversation but not close enough for him to grab her.

"Ah, Miss Potter; holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, and a nice supple wand good for defensive magics," Mr. Ollivander greeted as he sat up a little higher in bed. "I trust you are still taking proper care of that wand young lady?"

"It's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean it's gone?"

"It caught fire and burned to ash over eight months ago," Azalea stated as she lifted her right hand to show the man the scars that still marred her right palm (though not as prominently as they once had thanks to the scar removing potion Fleur's mother had given to her three weeks ago).

"Oh dear, such a tragic end to such a magnificent wand," Mr. Ollivander lamented mournfully. "I suppose you've gone and replaced it with an inferior wand from one of my competitors then?"

"No, I did not purchase a replacement wand," Azalea replied as she wandlessly conjured a comfortable chair in which to sit so that she wouldn't have to stand for the duration of the conversation. "I do have another wand but I could not tell you the wand's origin though I suspect it might have been one of yours considering where I got it from."

"That was an impressive display of wandless conjuration, Miss Potter. Tell me, did the holly wand burn before or after you began teaching yourself to cast wandlessly?"

"It was about five months after I first began casting wandlessly and it happened just after I broke through the bindings that Professor Dumbledore placed on my core at some point before I reached Hogwarts."

"Binding a child's core is such an outdated and abominable practice," Mr. Ollivander muttered as he scowled down at his hands. "That certainly explains why you were such a difficult customer to match properly. Well, no matter; pass me your new wand, young lady, and I will tell you whether or not it was one of mine."

"Why are you so concerned with my wand, Mr. Ollivander?"

"Do you know why You-Know-Who held me captive for the past year instead of simply killing me outright, Miss Potter?"

"No, though if I had to guess, I would have said it had something to do with your skills as a Wandmaker."

"Yes, I had been forced to crafts several new wands for his followers," Mr. Ollivander admitted with a scowl. "However, that was not the only thing You-Know-Who wanted from me. He interrogated me frequently in regards to an incident that happened at the end of your fourth year when he dueled you for the first time using his original wand."

"Dumbledore had called it the Priori Incantatem effect because my wand forced the Dark Lord's wand to spit out echoes of the last two dozen or so spells he'd performed, including the ghostly after images of the last five or six people he'd killed."

"Yes. Brother wands do not like to fight one another because they contain pieces of the same creature and a creature's magic will not fight against itself because it goes against nature for it to do so. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named sought a way to get around that hindrance in preparation for the next time he face you, Miss Potter. As for why I am so interested in your new wand; I wish to insure that your new wand is a proper match because I do not wish to find myself at the less than tender mercies of You-Know-Who once more. If the wand you are currently using is not a good match, I would be willing to craft you a new wand that will suit you so that you will not be at a disadvantage."

"The wand is not my only focus," Azalea stated as she pulled Dumbledore's former wand out of her cloak pocket before reaching back to grab the bokken she'd carved from the piece of oak she'd been gifted by the bowtruckles. "I can cast using my swords as well."

"How did you get that wand?" Mr. Ollivander demanded in a tight voice as his eyes flashed wide with surprise while he completely ignored the wooden swords she'd brought out.

"I took it from Draco Malfoy after I knocked him out."

"You have used it? It works for you?"

"Yes; it works even better than my old holly wand ever worked for me."

"Do you know what that wand is, Miss Potter?"

"It was Professor Dumbledore's old wand."

"Tell me, Miss Potter, have you ever heard of the Deathly Hallows?"

"Deathly Hallows? Are you referring to the three gifts from Death in the Tale of the Three Brothers?"

"Yes."

"What does Professor Dumbledore's old wand have to do with that old fairytale?"

"Fairytale? The Deathly Hallows are more than just a mere tale, child; they are a legend. The proof is sitting there in your hand, child; as you are holding the Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick, or if you prefer, the Elder Wand."

"How can you be so certain?" Azalea inquired as she frowned down at the wand in her hand as if it would suddenly jump out of her hand and start performing tricks on its own. "Didn't professor Dumbledore purchase his wand from you?"

"Yes, but that is not the wand I sold him; that is the wand he won from Grindelwald in nineteen-forty-five and before Grindelwald, a fellow Wandmaker by the name of Gregorovitch had owned the wand. I have seen that wand five times in my life, young lady, and each time my eyes have looked upon that wand it was held by a different hand. You may have stained the pale wood of the Elder Wand to hide it in plain sight but you can never hide the cold touch of Death that radiates from that wand; its history is soaked in blood."

"What do you know of the other Hallows?" Azalea asked quietly as she tore her eyes aware from the wand she still clutched tightly in her hand to meet the Wandmaker's gaze.

"The stone is rumored to bear the Peverell Coat of Arms; a circle inside of a triangle bisected by line. How true that is, I could not say as I have never laid eyes upon the Stone of Resurrection. The Cloak of Invisibility is a magnificent creation of superb craftsmanship; a true heirloom that would have been passed down from generation to generation through the centuries. Most invisibility cloaks will degrade and lose their effectiveness within a decade as the magic in the demiguise fur will fade rapidly once it has been shorn from the creature."

Azalea paled a bit as she thought about the invisibility cloak she'd been given in her first year; a cloak that supposedly belonged to her father and a cloak that Sirius had once claimed used to belong to her grandfather before it became her father's. Her hand then lifted to clutch the ring she wore on a cord around her neck as she recalled Marvolo Gaunt bragging about being a descendant of the Peverells; how he'd brandished the ring he'd worn upon his hand in the face of the official that had been questioning him in the memory that Dumbledore had left her.

A ring that had held a circle inside of a triangle bisected by a line; the same symbol she'd seen inscribed in the book of fairytales that Dumbledore had given to her on the page that introduced the Tale of Three Brothers and the Deathly Hallows.

"Was there anything else you needed from me?" Azalea asked woodenly as she tucked both wand and bokken away.

"Yes, I'd like to thank you for rescuing me; I had fully expected to die before I was found."

"You're welcome; I'm glad that I was able to help you. Did you need anything before I leave? I've asked Kreacher to tend to your needs but he will be busy for the next five or so hours."

"I am fine; Madam Pomfrey left me a sleeping potion that I will take now that I've spoken to you."

"Alright, I will leave you to get some rest then. You are welcome to stay here for as long as you need; the entire house is under a Fidelius Charm and there is more than enough room. Or, if you'd prefer, I have contacts on mainland Europe that would be able to smuggle you out of the country if you wished to leave England entirely until the threat of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters has been dealt with once and for all."

"I will stay for the time being. Once I've recovered, I may reconsider. Thank you, for everything, Miss Potter."

Azalea nodded absently as she stood up and stumbled to the door; her mind filled to the bursting with the information regarding the Deathly Hallows and the smallest possibility that she'd actually managed to end up in possession of all three items.

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**11-01-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	34. Spirits x of the x Past

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Thirty-Four: Spirits x of the x Past

Azalea ended up in her bedroom once more without any recollection of how she got there. Her mind was still fully preoccupied with what she'd learned about the Deathly Hallows though and her feet carried her to the chair beside her bed where her book bag innocently hung from the back of the wooden chair. She reached into the bag and after several minutes, pulled out her father's old invisibility cloak and let the gossamer material flow through her fingers as she recalled Kurapika teasing her about trying to collect the Hallows several weeks ago after he'd first read the story about the Three Brothers.

Still holding the cloak in her left hand, Azalea reached into her pocket and withdrew the wand that Ollivander claimed was the Elder Wand from the legend and the moment the handle slipped into her palm, she felt the cold magic that had touched her briefly the moment she first bonded to the wand wrap around her once more. She swallowed thickly when her eyes were drawn to the cloak in her left hand as the fabric shimmered brightly when the magic in the cloth resonated with the same cold magic as that in the wand. And then she felt the coldness seeping across her chest as the ring she'd found hidden inside the snitch Dumbledore had left her began resonating with the other two objects.

Fishing the ring out from under her shirt with her left hand, Azalea watched with grim fascination as the cracked stone set in the gold band mended itself as black and gold tendrils of magic twined around all three items. Once the stone was repaired, the magic twined around her soul briefly before it withdrew once more and Azalea was left holding the three objects as they lightly pulsed with cold magic. She swallowed thickly and wondered what being the owner of all three Hallows actually meant. No one that had spoken of the Hallows within Azalea's hearing had ever mentioned what would happen if someone were to gain possession of all three items.

Setting her cloak and the wand on the bed, Azalea took a closer look at the only Hallow she'd never used. Unlike the cloak and the wand, there was no obvious way to use the stone. And while as a ring it was obviously meant to be worn, the Stone of Resurrection hadn't always been part of a ring according to the tale; so logically that meant that wearing the ring didn't mean you were using the Hallow. As she absently flipped the ring over in her hands she thought about what the stone was meant to do; how it was supposed to call the dead back from beyond the grave. That led to thoughts about the people she'd like to see if she ever used to the Stone.

Her parents were a given; she'd seen them in the Mirror of Erised, she'd heard them in her memories, dreams, and nightmares, and their echoes had spoken to her briefly in the graveyard but she had never really spoken to them. Did they still love her? Were they proud of her? Would they approve of the choices she'd made over the past year? Would they have approved of Kurapika? Or would they be disappointed in her? Would they be ashamed or disgusted by the fact that she was pregnant out of wedlock?

And while she knew Sirius had told he'd be proud of her no matter what, would he still feel the same way now? Would he still be accepting of her decision knowing she'd not only gone ahead and slept with Kurapika but that she'd allowed herself to become pregnant? Would he think she'd gone dark like more than half of the original Order members had because she didn't hesitate to kill the Death Eaters she defeated? Could he still love her knowing she had blood on her hands?

Lastly, she thought about her great-grandfather. Would the man be pleased that one of his grandchildren had followed in his footsteps to become a Hunter? Or would he see her as nothing but a foolish little girl? Would he look down on her because she'd not actually passed the Hunter's Exam on her own merits but by a fluke due to her own death? Would he think her weak?

"Is the child always this pensive?" an unfamiliar man's voice inquired from behind her and Azalea froze before she let out a soft whine of fear at the thought of some strange man sneaking up on her in her bedroom.

"Sadly, yes; she's always thinking far too much," another achingly familiar voice declared with more than a little exasperation and a hint of teasing.

"She gets it from her mother," a third voice added sagely before yelping. "Ow, what'd you hit me for? I was only stating the truth!"

"I will hex you in tender places if you insist upon being immature, dear," a woman threatened in a stern voice that was laced with suppressed amusement.

Swallowing thickly, Azalea slowly glanced over her shoulder to stare at the four ghostly figures that had appeared in her bedroom and felt her mouth grow dry as she recognized all four of them. Sirius looked much as he had the day she'd briefly died; young and carefree as he laughed unashamedly over her father's current predicament. Her parents were just as young as her godfather and currently focused entirely on each other; her father rubbing his arm and cringing slightly while her mother had a slight scowl on her face and her hands on her hip as she tapped her foot impatiently. And Gregory Evans appeared just as he had in the photo she had of him as he stood off to one side with that self-satisfied half-smile tugging at his lips while he watched Lily and James with undisguised amusement.

"Are you really here or am I dreaming?"

"We're really here, little fawn," Sirius replied as all four ghostly figures returned their attention to her the moment they heard her voice. "And, no, you don't have to quiz each of us with trick questions to make us prove it. You called us here through the Stone, after all, and no other spirit would dare answer the summons of another least they suffer the Stone's wrath; especially not when the Stone is held by the hand that has reunited and mastered all three Hallows."

Azalea tightened her hand around the Resurrection Stone as she stared at the four of them with wide eyes before she turned around so that she was facing them. She then smiled as she drank in the sight of her parents, reveled in seeing her godfather once more, and avidly studied the man whose footsteps she'd unknowingly followed in. She then recalled the part of the story that said those spirits that were called back suffered because they did not belong in the world of the living.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you here and make you suffer," Azalea apologized as she briefly glanced down at the ring clutched in her fist. "I'm not even sure how I did it."

"There is no harm in answering the call of the Stone," Lily assured her as she smiled at Azalea. "We will only suffer if you attempt to keep us here after we have answered your questions; after all, it is not a crime to seek guidance from beyond the veil."

"That was your cue to ask your questions," James stage whispered when Azalea didn't say anything for several minutes.

"Don't be so impatient, dear," Lily ordered as she smacked him on the arm again. She then glanced towards Azalea once more and added, "Your father was correct though; the longer you delay in asking your questions, the harder it will be for you to let us go when we have fulfilled the task for which you called us to you."

"Are there rules as to what I'm allowed to ask?"

"No, but there are rules as to what we are allowed to answer," Sirius explained. "So, no asking for the secrets of the universe or anything like that; which includes asking us questions about the Deathly Hallows and what it means to hold all three of them – there is only one being that can answer any questions you have about them."

"Are there any penalties for me asking questions you're not supposed to answer? And is there a limit to how many questions I can ask?"

"No, no penalties for asking and no limit on the number of questions," James answered as he adjusted his glasses. "But remember, the longer you keep us here, the harder it will be for you to let us go and we'd prefer not to see you torment yourself by trying to hold onto what has already been lost because that is when our being here becomes painful for us as well as you."

"Oh. I… how much do you know about what is happening now?"

"That's one of those questions we can't answer," Lily gently replied after she exchanged a glance with James and Sirius.

"I wasn't asking you to tell me what you know… I… I just wanted to know if you knew about… about Kurapika. If you knew about the decisions I've made in the last year or if I'd have to explain things in order to ask you what I wanted to ask you. I guess what I really wanted to know was if you've watched over me all this time. Sirius didn't really seem to know what was going on in my life when I briefly died so I don't really know how much you know about my life."

"Padfoot was trapped in limbo at the time of your temporary death; a place between the world of the living and the afterlife and a place of waiting that has no true connections to either realm. That was why he didn't know what had happened after he died and before you spoke with him when the child assassin killed you," James explained. "He was not allowed to move on until you let him go."

"So… so does that mean that all four of you know everything now? That… that you know…?"

"That we know you are pregnant with our first grandchildren?" Lily finished for Azalea when the younger witch trailed off without actually voicing her question; her mother's question actually answering her own.

"Are you angry?"

"No. Nor are we disappointed in the decisions you've made regarding your life," Lily assured her as she stepped forward to gently touch Azalea's cheek; her touch feather soft and ice cold against Azalea's skin.

"And Kurapika? Do you approve of him?"

"So long as he makes you happy, then we are satisfied with your choice," James stated as he stepped up behind Lily and wrapped his arms around his wife. "That he obviously cares deeply for you certainly helps."

"The fact that he's got a decent sense of humor and the heart of a prankster beneath his serious exterior doesn't hurt either," Sirius added with a grin. "I'd have been disappointed if you'd struck up with some old boring stick in the mud incapable of laughing."

"He is quite the catch; handsome, intelligent, passionate, patient, and strong," Lily pointed out next. "It doesn't hurt that he's headstrong enough to be a match for your temper without being overly confrontational; meaning he won't let you walk all over him but he also won't seek to crush your spirit. I'd have to say he compliments your personality quite nicely."

Azalea felt a huge weight lifted from her shoulders knowing that both her parents and her godfather approved of her relationship with Kurapika and that they were not disappointed with her for giving herself to him or for being more than a little irresponsible in getting pregnant. She beamed at all three spirits over their ready acceptance of her lover.

"Was there anything else you wished to ask us?" James asked when Azalea didn't immediately ask another question.

Azalea's smiled slipped off her face as her thoughts turned towards the lives she'd taken over the past month. After a couple of uncomfortable seconds she hesitantly asked, "Do you think I am taking things too far? That I am going dark because I refuse to give the Death Eaters a second chance?"

"We can't answer those questions; the dead can not judge the living," Sirius replied regretfully. "All we can say is that we love you and we are proud of you for standing up for your beliefs."

"Oh. I guess that means this is goodbye then."

"There will come a day when we will see one another again, sweetheart," Lily assured her as she touched her face again while smiling sadly. "Please don't call us back again unless there is a great need for you to speak with us; for it will only be even harder to let us go next time."

"Know that we will always love you and that we are proud of you," James murmured next as he leaned forward to kiss Azalea on the forehead; his touch just as frozen and as fleeting as Lily's had been. "Don't be afraid to trust your heart."

"Stay strong, little fawn, and believe in yourself," Sirius added as he cupped her face gently with his ghostly hands. "And I fully expect you to raise the little ones as right proper Marauders."

Azalea laughed even as tears well up in her eyes as all three spirits stepped back and faded out of sight. It hurt to watch them go and she almost wished that she'd had a hundred more questions to ask them but she knew she couldn't just keep them here indefinitely. It would have been no different then sitting and wasting away in front of the Mirror of Erised.

"You let them go far easier than I thought you would, child."

Azalea whipped around to stare at the spirit of her great-grandfather; she'd completely forgotten he was there. She was actually surprised that he hadn't left the moment she'd focused on her parents and Sirius. She took the time to study him again; noting again that he looked much like he had in the picture that Chairman Netero had given to her.

"Will you introduce yourself to me, granddaughter?"

"Harriet Azalea Potter also known as James, the Dark Wizard Hunter, at your service," Azalea rattled off as she stood up a little straighter before giving him a cheeky little curtsy. "So, should I call you Grandpa Gregory or would you prefer Grandpa Firebrand?"

"If I could hex Isaac from beyond the grave, I would hit the old brick wall in unmentionable places for giving you my old Hunter's License with that deplorable nickname on it," Gregory groused good-naturedly even as he grimaced over the nickname. "Annoyances aside, you are free to call me what you wish. Now, what is it you wished to ask of me?"

"Why did you become a Hunter?"

"Would you believe that I took the Exam on a dare?"

"A dare, really?"

"Yes, Isaac dared me to take the Exam when I met him on the ship that was taking me back to the continent as I was returning to Germany with my father after we'd spent two months visiting my grandmother in Ireland. I was fifteen at the time and set to return to Durmstrang for my fourth year. I hadn't wanted to return; Grindelwald was just starting to gather a following and he was constantly seeking out young male students from Durmstrang and I did not wish to be recruited."

"Isaac had overheard me arguing with my father and he brought me a tankard of ale later that night as I sulked in the crow's nest. We chatted for a while and he admitted to overhearing the argument. An hour later, after we were both giddy with grog, he dared me to ditch my father and join him in taking the Hunter's Exam. I accepted and the two of us were thick as thieves ever since."

"Did you ever regret running away and becoming a Hunter?"

"No."

"Did you ever go back to the magical world?"

"Yes, I returned eighteen years later when I learned that Grindelwald had killed both my father and younger brother when my brother refused to join his cause. I became part of the underground movement not long after that; helping to hunt down those wizards and witches that were part of Grindelwald's army. I made a name for myself over the next six years and soon drew the attention of Grindelwald. During that time I met and married your great-grandmother and three months after our boys were born, Grindelwald came for me and my family and I sent your great-grandmother and my boys to Isaac via emergency portkey before I dueled him to the death."

"Did you kill those witches and wizards you hunted?"

"Some of them, yes. I also helped those that had been drummed into service against their will to escape."

"Does the guilt ever fade?"

"No; and pray that it never does, for the day you can no longer feel remorse for the lives you have taken is the day you have crossed the line and become that which you were fighting in the first place. At the same time, don't let the guilt consume you and drive you mad and never regret stopping those that seek to harm the innocent. War and death go hand in hand and the thing you have to keep in mind is that for every dark witch or wizard you put down, you are saving at least one innocent life; you are saving the life of their next victim."

"I try but it's not always easy. When it comes to those Death Eaters that I know did terrible things, it's easy to think of all of the terrible things they've done but it breaks something inside of me each time I kill someone that I went to school with for one to five years. It's hard to forget that those other teens were boys and girls that rode the Hogwarts Express with me, that ate their meals in the Great Hall with me, and that sat through the same classes with me."

"And did any of those that you killed ever surrender?"

"No, but I also didn't give them a chance to surrender because I killed them while they were unconscious the moment I verified they had allowed themselves to be branded with the Dark Mark."

"How did they end up unconscious?"

"Either one of the people with me knocked them out or I knocked them out during the fighting."

"And did they ever drop their wands and attempt to surrender before you knocked them out or were they actively fighting and you and your allies?"

"Fighting… but…"

"No buts; they made their choice. They could have surrendered or fled the moment you defended yourself from their attack. Do you kill those that were not branded with the mark of the man you are fighting?"

"No."

"Then you have nothing to be ashamed of and anyone that tells you otherwise is a fool," Gregory insisted in a stern tone that reminded Azalea of professor McGonagall. The man then softened his expression as he asked, "Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

"Do I have any other relatives still out there aside from the Dursleys?"

"No; we've always been a small family with no more than one or two children per generation."

"I was afraid of that but I always hoped… I guess the only other thing I wanted to ask you was what is so special about the color of our eyes? Chairman Netero said he'd recognized me as your great-granddaughter because he'd recognized my eyes and he told me that you'd told him that only a magical with Evans blood would ever have green eyes like ours."

"Ah, so the old brick-wall remembered that little tidbit, did he? Figures, I suppose; he always did remember the oddest little facts. To answer your question, it is not the color of our eyes that marks us as Evanses though green does tend to be the most prominent color in our line. What marks you as my great-granddaughter is your ability to use your blood as a living magical focus; giving you the ability to use your magic wandlessly above and beyond what other witches and wizards are normally capable of doing."

"Each time you pull your magic from your core without linking it to the magic of a focus, it infuses your very blood with magic and that magic will be reflected in your eyes and cause them to glitter with specks of gold under certain conditions; such as when you are actively casting wandlessly. They will also reflect the light like the eyes of a cat and give the appearance of glowing in the dark due to the magic flowing through your blood. The more magic your blood holds, the more noticeable the effect on your eyes will be when you use your wandless magic until they will eventually turn completely gold."

"Oh, Kurapika had brought up my eyes turning gold months ago but I never knew what was causing it. Are there any other abilities I might have inherited from the Evans family? Come to think of it, I still haven't found any information on the third ability that I inherited from the Potter side of the family; I probably should have asked my father while he was here but it didn't even cross my mind at the time."

"Yes, family inheritances are always grouped in threes; though it should be impossible for a child to be blessed with the magical inheritances from both parents. Normally, the parent that is considered magically dominant in ability will pass on their family's inheritance to all of their children while the other parent's magical inheritance is completely discarded because it is considered magically inferior. Otherwise the family inheritances would be cumulative and each successive generation would have doubled or tripled the number of abilities they possessed within a given family. If that were the case, then the wizarding world would not have lost so many talents over the years. You are certain that you inherited the abilities of your father's family?"

"Yes, I know I was born with both the Potter Luck and the Potter's dual inner nature," Azalea replied pensively. "Maybe I only inherited those two traits from my father and the last trait was the one I inherited from mum."

"That would not be possible; all three family traits are inherently linked and usually dependent upon one another to fully function, meaning that all three abilities must be present to use any of them. Take the Evans Inheritance for example; the first ability allows us to charge our blood with magic, the second ability is that our emotions boost our magical potential exponentially during times of great stress, and the third ability allows us to manipulate time and space under special circumstances."

"Oh, you're talking about the Flash-Step thing! That's how I was able to throw myself between Killua's attack and the man he was attacking; I must have traveled through time as I moved across the room so that I was where I needed to be when I needed to be there instead of just crossing the room really fast."

"Yes. So, you obviously inherited all three of the Evans abilities and if you inherited two of the Potter abilities, then you most likely inherited the third one as well. I suspect that your Potter Inheritance must compliment the Evens Inheritance in some way; it would be the only explanation as to why you inherited both sets of abilities and why you are able to use them to the extent you do."

"I will have to see if the answer can be found in the stuff Dumbledore left for me after he died or I can always call on the spirit of another Potter in order to get my answers."

"Be wary of the Hallows, child; they are not without cost," Gregory warned sternly.

"I know, Papa Greg; but with the prophecy hanging over my head and the lives of my unborn children on the line, I can't afford to limit my potential resources. The Hallows are tools just the same as my bokken and I won't allow myself to get caught up in the power they represent and forget that any tool can be dangerous if wielded carelessly."

"You truly are a Hunter at heart, granddaughter."

"It means a lot to me that you think so."

"It was truly an honor and a pleasure meeting you at last. I will leave you with one final piece of advice; never lose sight of your heart while you hunt, Harriet Azalea, you need your heart to tell you when it is time to go home least you lose what you love the most. Oh, and do me the favor of calling Isaac a brick wall at least once! If he complains, you can tell him I said it was only fair after he gave you my old nickname."

Azalea watched her great-grandfather fade out of sight and she sighed sadly even as she smiled. It had been wonderful to speak with all four spirits even as it hurt to let them go. And as tempting as it was to call them back again, she knew she wouldn't; just like she'd never again sought out the Mirror of Erised after her first year. It helped that she was no longer as alone as she had been during her first year. Sighing again, Azalea tucked the ring back beneath her shirt, tucked her wand into her pocket, and returned her cloak to her book bag as she put the power of the Hallows out of her mind.

She then crawled into bed in order to get some rest; it'd been a long day and she was beyond exhausted. She was woken up around five in the evening by all four of her elves so that she could eat supper and assign them all proper chores. Minky, as the only female elf, was assigned to personally attend Azalea (to clean her rooms, monitor her and her babies' health, and take care of her things) and keep the second floor clean while the three male elves would each take turns cooking for her each day (so they didn't get jealous of Minky personally serving her).

Dobby, as the elf bonded to Azalea the longest (by counting the years of his partial bond), became Azalea's secretary of sorts. He'd be responsible for taking care of Hedwig and Fawkes, making purchases and deliveries on her behalf, taking care of her mail (checking the things sent to her for harmful curses or potions, throwing out the junk, and making certain her replies were sent out in a timely manner), cleaning out the War Room, answering Kurapika's summons if the blond called him, and cooking one third of the meals for the Order.

Kreacher, as the Black Family elf, was responsible for taking care of all the portraits and valuables in the house, caring for any guests, cooking one third of the meals for the Order, and keeping the attic, most of the ground floor, and all of the first floor clean. And Tanker would be responsible for taking care of the Library, cleaning the basement, taking care of the grounds, cooking one third of the meals for the Order, and collecting the non-harmful books from her vaults at Gringotts that had already been checked for dark magic so they could be added to the library.

All four elves were mostly satisfied that she'd divided up the chores evenly and her promise that she'd try to spread any special assignments out between all four of them (such as keeping an eye on Pomfrey for five hours each time she made an appearance at Grimmauld place and stripping valuables from any mansions she raided). Both of the new elves were also given the standard orders of never punish themselves, never speak of her secrets to anyone associated with the Dark Lord of his Death Eaters, never insult muggleborns or muggles, to call her James and refer to her as a boy when she dealt with Hunter issues outside of the wizarding world, and to never fight with the other elves.

All of which were pretty much the same orders she'd given both Dobby and Kreacher the day she'd let Dobby join her family; bar the final order as that one was a new one she'd given to all four of them after recalling Kreacher's comment about having to be vigilant against the others least his work be stolen.

Once the elves were dealt with and her supper had been eaten, Azalea spent the rest of the evening sorting through the documents she'd purchased from the goblins the night before. Her next chosen target was the Lestrange Mansion but she wouldn't dare attack it until she was certain that Voldemort had moved onto the Nott properties. Tanker was given the dangerous task of monitoring the Lestrange properties so she'd know the moment the place was vacated (the elf ordered to abandon his watch the moment his life was in danger).

Dobby delivered a copy of her memories of defeating all three Malfoys (Draco's defeat being from the night he killed Dumbledore and from the failed Diagon Alley attack) and all three Lestranges to Bill's goblin supervisor along with a written oath that the memories were accurate and unaltered. She'd personally visit the bank first thing in the morning to discuss the expected vaults from those conquests since she knew that Bellatrix and Narcissa both had living family in Nymphadora Tonks and her mother Andromeda; who she'd need to meet with to discuss the distribution of her sisters' valuables.

The last thing Azalea did that night was to have an anonymous tip delivered to the Daily Prophet regarding the deaths of the Malfoys and the Lestranges and arrange for the payment and delivery of the next day's Prophet to one Tom Riddle to insure the Dark Lord got the news.

After a light breakfast of dry toast, chicken broth, and a nutrient potion (after yet another bout of morning sickness) first thing the next morning, Azalea headed to the bank. Tonks and Remus had been sent off to ask Tonks' parents to join her so that they could sit down to discuss the Malfoy, Lestrange, and Black fortunes and properties. Fleur and Bill were both escorting Azalea to the bank since they still had more vaults to search and inventory (a side effect of the growing number of witches and wizards that the Order had defeated).

The rest of the Order would once again be guarding the Alley and the bank from an attack in addition to monitoring the muggle news in an effort to deal with any Death Eater attacks in other parts of the country (in case Voldemort attempted to draw them away from Diagon Alley by attacking another location).

The seventeen year old witch stepped into the bank behind Fleur as Bill followed them both and immediately spotted Remus and Tonks waiting to one side of the lobby with a stately witch that reminded Azalea of Bellatrix; only far more beautiful since she'd not spent a decade and a half in prison. The mousy brown color of Tonks' hair let Azalea know that the metamorphmagus was worried or grieving and Azalea hoped the absence of Mr. Tonks didn't mean that the man had been killed by Death Eaters recently.

Locking away all of her insecurities, Azalea approached the trio and asked them to follow her as a goblin appeared to lead her to the conference room she'd rented for this meeting; Fleur stuck to her side while Bill went to check in with his supervisor. They'd barely stepped inside of the rented room before Andromeda Tonks (formerly Andromeda Black) rounded on Azalea and slapped her hard across the face.

Fleur, Remus, and Tonks drew their wands and placed themselves between the angry older witch and the younger witch an instant later; all three of them angry on Azalea's behalf for the sudden attack. Azalea was only half shocked by the attack as she'd expected the woman to be angry that both of her sisters were now dead (they had been her family after all, even if she wasn't on speaking terms with them) but while she'd expected the woman to attack her verbally, she'd not expected to be attacked physically.

"What the hell are you doing, mother?" Tonks hissed as her hair turned bright red with anger and embarrassment.

"It's fine, Tonks," Azalea stated quietly. "And Mrs. Tonks, while your anger is understandable and your grief justifiable; I will warn you now not to touch me again because I will defend myself."

"You killed both of my sisters and while Bellatrix may have been irredeemable, there was no cause for you to murder Cissy," Andromeda ground out in a haughty tone that was filled with barely suppressed rage.

"Tell me, Mrs. Tonks, do you know what it takes for a Death Eater to earn their Dark Mark?"

"What does that have to do with you killing off both of my sisters?"

"Everything; the Dark Mark can not be given to the unwilling. In order for a person to receive the Dark Mark, they must demonstrate their proficiency in all three of the Unforgivables to their master. They must first capture a muggle or muggleborn family with at least one child under the age of eleven and bring their prisoners to their master where they cast each of the three Unforgivables on the family as all of the gathered Death Eaters and their master watch in order to demonstrate their proficiency with those spells; a sick and twisted show for sick and twisted people."

"Your dearest little sister picked a mixed muggle and magical family of three with a little girl no more than five years old. Your sister willingly forced the father to do unspeakable things to his own daughter while forcing the mother, who was a witch, to watch. She then tortured all three members of the family before she ordered the father to kill his wife while the daughter was given to Fenrir Greyback. Your sister killed the father using the Killing Curse after she lifted the Imperius Curse so that he could see and remember what she'd just made him do."

"That was after she watched her husband do something similar with another family. And at the end of Draco's fifth year, she stood and watched as her son carried on the family tradition of murder, torture, rape, and depravity. All three of them eagerly and willingly pledged their lives and their souls to the Dark Lord for all eternity before he bound them physically and magically to him as he branded them like cattle. Can you still stand there and condone what your sister did and what she allowed her son to do knowing what she was willing to do in her desire to prostrate herself in front of a monster?"

"How do you know…?" Andromeda demanded weakly even as she struggled not to reveal just how ill that revelation had made her.

"I viewed the memories of all three Malfoys before I killed them or in Draco's case, sent him to his death. I have no wish to take lives indiscriminately and have therefore always sought to verify that the individuals that I capture are truly guilty of both being a Death Eater and of despicable crimes before I deliver justice for their victims. The other Death Eaters I have killed to date have all had similar memories."

"I had no idea…"

"I don't think anyone truly knew aside from those that wear the Dark Mark and those that were marked were ordered to never speak of how they earned their Mark, so it is possible that not even Professor Dumbledore knew of what was required of those who had been marked."

"I apologize for my unwarranted attack, Miss Potter."

"It's already forgotten, Mrs. Tonks; you were understandably distraught and did not know," Azalea countered as the group relaxed and wands were put away. "If you don't mind me asking, where is your husband? I expected him to be here as well."

"Dad's been on the run since the Ministry fell last month; Umbridge attempted to arrest him under the new Muggleborn Registration Act when he failed to register himself," Tonks answered in her mother's place as her hair faded back to mousy brown.

"Of all the stupid; Tonks, why didn't you just bring both of your parents to Headquarters!?" Azalea demanded as she rounded on the auror. "Even if they aren't in the Order, they are family! Merlin above please save me from the illogical thought process of magicals! Fawkes!" Remus and Fleur both hid their smirks at the gob smacked expression on the two other witches' faces over Azalea's short rant as the phoenix appeared in a burst of flames. "Thank you for answering friend, can you please find Mr. Tonks and bring him here? We need to make certain he's safe."

The phoenix returned ten minutes later with a worse for wear Ted Tonks and a second passenger in the form of a badly bleeding Dean Thomas. Apparently, the phoenix had turned up just in time to save the pair from a group of corrupted aurors that had been trying to capture them. Dean was handed over to one of the bank's Healers while the rest of the group sat down to discuss the distribution of the Malfoy and Lestrange vaults with Bill's supervisor. When Azalea left bank three hours later, she had three new Order members and guests that joined her at Grimmauld Place; with Kreacher enthusiastically welcoming Andromeda back into the Black Family.

One week later, Bill and his team of curse breakers would locate and destroy Hufflepuff's Cup inside of Bellatrix Lestrange's personal vault after verifying that the cup was indeed a horcrux.

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**Notes:**

Splitting Hairs – Now, some of you might see discrepancies or contradictions in the conversations that Azalea had with the spirits of the dead and I wanted to make my thoughts clear to avoid being chastised in reviews. Specifically, I'm speaking about the fact that Gregory Evans had answered Azalea's harder questions when it appears as if Sirius had told her they couldn't answer those types of questions. I'd like to point out that Azalea wasn't asking the same questions though.

When she spoke to her parents and godfather, she was asking them if they thought she was doing the right thing or if they thought she was going dark and as Sirius said, the dead cannot judge the living. The questions she asked of her great-grandfather were different though, in that she was asking about his feelings and experiences, not asking him to judge her actions or feelings. A small difference, for sure, but it is enough of a difference to allow him to answer; at least in my mind. The same holds true of the questions Azalea asked her parents and Sirius about their feelings in regards to her pregnancy and Kurapika.

It is like the difference between asking 'may I' as opposed to 'can I' when asking for permission. It doesn't sound like all that big of a difference but there is a difference none-the-less. And I see the differences in wording and intent as being enough to make a difference between the two instances in this case, since magic is just as much about intent and belief as it is about power, know how, skill, and will.

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**11-01-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	35. Prophecy x in x Motion

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Thirty-Five: Prophecy x in x Motion

Azalea stood on the porch of No. Twelve Grimmauld Place and watched the hoards of costumed children travel from the doorstep of No. Eleven to the doorstep of No. Thirteen without any idea that they'd skipped the doorstep upon which she stood. She envied their ignorance and their happiness as they laughed and skipped gleefully about collecting candy from the people that had been her neighbors for nearly three months now. She almost hated them for their ability to go on with their lives as if the world couldn't come crashing down around their ears any second now.

At the same time, she couldn't help but pray that her babies would have a chance to be just like those innocents laughing out on the streets when they were old enough to dress up for Halloween and go trick-or-treating about the neighborhood.

"You are going to catch your death of cold if you stay out here much longer, mon cher," Fleur declared as she opened the door behind Azalea and stepped out behind the shorter, younger witch. "It is not good for you to be standing in ze cold for hours on end and it is nearly time for us to go."

Sighing, Azalea turned away from the trick-or-treating children and complied with the subtle order despite the fact that they both knew the cold could not affect her through the charms on the dueling cloak she wore. Inside, the small handful of people that knew the full details of the prophecy and of the existence of Voldemort's horcruxes waited for her. They would be going with her to Hogwarts that night to search for another horcrux in the handful of places Azalea had not yet managed to search through the previous months (the castle was huge, after all, and she'd started the search from the ground up).

Tonight offered a perfect opportunity to search the school due to the fact that all of the students would be attending the Halloween Feast; as would the school's staff.

All seven men and two women turned to study her critically in the dim light of the candles burning in the wall sconces; taking in the dark circles under her eyes, the paleness of her complexion, and the gauntness of her frame (the seventeen year old had lost close to a stone and a half over the past two months). Azalea ignored the looks; she knew she looked like crap and truth be told she felt like crap. The past three months had been hell on her.

Her bouts of morning sickness had spread to include her afternoons and evenings as well as the mornings and she was lucky if she managed to keep dry toast and soda crackers down long enough to digest them; let alone an actual meal. If not for the nutritional potions that her elves diligently provided her with she probably would have lost even more weight. Fleur and Remus tried to bully her into seeing a healer but Azalea told them she already knew exactly what was wrong with her; she was pregnant with twins but she was hardly going to tell them that.

Instead, she blamed her failing health on the fact that her soul was swimming neck deep in the blood of the lives she'd taken over the past three months. It wasn't exactly a lie; after all, she'd killed hundreds of men, women, and teenagers and not all of them had worn the Dark Mark upon their bodies. Only the fact that all of them had been associated with the Dark Lord in some way or with the magical black market assuaged a small fraction of the guilt that stained her soul black; as did the conversations she'd held with the spirit of her great-grandfather two months earlier.

It also didn't hurt that she knew she had saved far more lives than she'd taken.

Over the past two months, Azalea had raided an additional seventeen manors and mansions belonging to high ranked Death Eaters. She had also helped to rescue a more than a few hostages with the help of the Order; most of them muggleborns and muggles that had been kidnapped from their homes. And they had stopped the Snatchers altogether; the taboo on Voldemort's name rescinded due to the high number of Snatchers that had been taken out when the Order of the Phoenix had used the taboo against them.

That was on top of inciting a rebellion that saw the Ministry employees taking the Ministry back from the pureblood bigots and Death Eaters in order to repair their relationship with Gringotts. The Order of the Phoenix had gladly helped in that endeavor as they'd dealt with the marked followers of the Dark Lord and more dangerous individuals while the employees dealt with cowards.

Delores Umbridge fell to Azalea's swords during the sixteen hour long battle to retake the Ministry; the petite witch had ruthlessly crushed the witch's throat with heavy handed backswing. The witch hadn't been a marked Death Eater but her views on non-humans and non-purebloods saw her being treated as one by both her [Delores's] co-workers and the goblins. Azalea took great pleasure in seizing that woman's vaults (which contained quite a bit of gold) and redistributed a pittance of the funds into her own vaults before the rest was set aside to pay restitution to all of those the witch had harmed with her bigotry (a list that included goblins, centaurs, elves, mermaids, werewolves, vampires, and countless muggleborns).

The magical artifacts (which would be returned to their rightful owners if at all possible) in Umbridge's vaults had included close to two million galleons worth of goblin made jewelry that had been obtained through trickery, blackmail, and outright theft. All of those items were turned over to the goblins without a second thought. The goblins would also handle the return of the other items to their rightful owners or simply auction them off to the highest bidder if no one stepped forward to claim them with the money made from the sales going into the restitution vaults (of which there were now six or seven).

The seventeen pairs of tragically beautiful Scarlet Eyes preserved and protected in an oaken case she'd purchased to keep them safe also helped her hold her head up high despite the guilt that weighed her down; she was helping Kurapika find justice, even if he didn't yet know it. There were only three more confirmed pairs of Scarlet Eyes left in the wizarding world and she knew exactly right where they were. The only thing that stopped her from collecting them already was the knowledge that the owner of the house they resided in was related to four of the men currently standing in the room with her.

Muriel Prewitt had either purchased or inherited the Scarlet Eyes and she'd held onto them with the same tenacity she'd held onto the goblin wrought diadem that Fleur had worn on her wedding day. Bill and Charlie had promised to confront the woman fairly soon in order to attempt to retrieve the three pairs of eyes without any bloodshed (though she had not told them why she was gathering those particular items). Azalea could have attempted to purchase the eyes from the woman but she refused to pay for something that didn't rightly belong to any witch or wizard.

In her mind, paying for the eyes would imply that she condoned the Human Trophy trade and that was the last thing she would ever do.

All in all, the only problem that really remained was dealing with roughly fifty Death Eaters (only five of them members of what remained of Voldemort's inner circle – the two Carrows, Avery, Snape, and Pettigrew), destroying the last two potential horcruxes (the unknown one and Nagini), and dealing with Voldemort.

Pulling her thoughts out of the past, Azalea glanced around to see that the others were waiting on her and she sighed before summoning her book bag to her so that they could leave. Her four house elves and Fawkes then shifted everyone into the tunnel beneath Honeydukes Sweet Shoppe. No words were said as they traveled swiftly in the direction of the One-Eyed Witch's statue that stood guard over the castle-side entrance of the tunnel. In no time at all, they had reached the exit and Azalea activated the Marauder's Map to make certain all of the residents were in the Great Hall; they were.

Fred and George disillusioned themselves at that point and climbed out of the tunnel first, Remus and Tonks left next under a pair of Moody's invisibility cloaks, Bill and Charlie followed under a pair of Disillusionment Charms, and then Moody and Krum headed up under another cloak and a Disillusionment Charm respectively; leaving Fleur and Azalea alone in the tunnel. Azalea watched the four pairs split up and head to their assigned sections to start searching; making certain that they wouldn't be heading into trouble.

Azalea then dug into her book bag for her father's old invisibility cloak and passed it to Fleur as she checked the map one last time; the young witch ignoring the chill of the death magic that always enveloped her whenever all three Hallows were touching her skin. With nothing else to be done and no reason to put off the inevitable; Azalea climbed up out of the tunnel and transformed into Pixie before trotting a short way down the hall to wait for Fleur. The moment she heard the older witch walking up behind her, she led the way towards the secret passageway that would dump them both up on the seventh floor where they would resume the search.

On the seventh floor, they turned to the left and split up; Fleur dealing with the rooms, closets, and broom cupboards on the left and Azalea taking those on the right. After searching each room, they'd let each other know whether or not the room was clear or let the other know they'd found something (Azalea remaining in her animagus form in order to not draw the attention of any portraits in the area). In that way, they worked their ways down the west wing before moving onto the northern wing.

It was when they were passing by the Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and his dancing trolls that Azalea recalled the Room of Requirement. She stopped and stared at the blank stretch of wall for a long minute as she considered the mysterious room that could be anything the user desired.

_I wonder… if it can become a defense classroom, a room filled with chamber pots, a supply cupboard, and a broom closet; could it also become a room in which to hide a horcrux?_ Azalea silently thought to herself as she sat down on her furry behind and stared intently at the wall.

"Is zere something wrong, chaton?" Fleur inquired softly as the unseen witch crouched down beside the cat a couple of minutes later when she finally noticed that Azalea had stopped searching.

Azalea shook her head before climbing back to her feet. She then began pacing back and forth in front of the blank stretch of wall as she repeated to herself; _I need to find the room that Tom Riddle hid his horcrux in_.

It took a little longer than normal but eventually a door shimmered into view and Azalea paused in mid-step as she stared hard at the door for a long minute. She then looked at the spot where she could hear Fleur breathing and mewed at the older witch before she walked up to the door and stretched herself up to bat at the door handle that was just out of her reach. She glanced back in Fleur's direction again and mewed a second time; hoping to convey to the French witch that she wanted the older woman to open the door. Sure, she could have done it herself using a thread of Nen (as she had the other four or five dozen rooms she'd opened) but she didn't want to search the room beyond by herself.

Fleur quickly got the message and the door soon opened under her hidden hand. The two of them walked into the room together and both of them cussed and cursed under their breath as they took in just how much junk was piled up throughout the far larger than expected room that had appeared. Once Azalea finished yowling, hissing, spitting, and growling out a string of feline invectives; she reverted to her human form and scowled at the room.

"We're going to need help to sort through all of this junk," Azalea stated needlessly.

"How did you know zis room was here?"

"I didn't; this room is called the Room of Requirement or, as the elves call it, the Come and Go Room. It becomes whatever you need it to be when you first call it into being by walking up and down the hallway in front of the wall. I asked it for the room that Tom Riddle hid his horcrux in and this is what it gave me. So, logically, there is a higher chance of the horcrux being in here than somewhere else in the castle. Wish I'd thought to check here sooner but I'd forgotten all about the room until I saw the tapestry across the way."

"Shall we send for everyone else?"

"Might as well," Azalea sighed as she scowled out at the towering piles of junk. "Kreacher, Dobby, Tanker, and Minky; I need all four of you." The four elves immediately appeared and glanced up at her waiting for orders. Azalea brought out the Marauder's Map and activated it so she could show the elves where everyone was currently searching.

"Kreacher, please go collect Moody and Viktor; make certain that you warn Moody before you grab him otherwise he's liable to hex you. Dobby, you're to grab the twins; I'll give you five galleons for more yarn if you prank them before you bring them here. Tanker, I want you to fetch Remus and Tonks; make certain you drop Tonks in a large clear space or she'll knock everything over the moment she arrives. And Minky, that leaves Bill and Charlie for you to collect; make certain you warn them both."

Ten minutes later, Azalea was having a hard time keeping a straight face as she stared at the twins. The moment the two of them turned away from her, she slipped Dobby the promised five galleons; it was worth it to see the troublesome twins with green hair, purple freckles, pale orange skin, and bright pink clothes. The other wizards and witches present were more than a little amused by the twins' new looks as well. As a bonus, having Dobby prank them had satisfied the need her inner child felt to play around a bit; something she'd had precious little time to do since she'd returned.

Her good mood didn't last much longer though as all ten magicals turned their attention to the collection of junk and spread out to begin searching for anything that held even a hint of dark magic in it. All four of the elves remained with them; each of them carefully cleaning up and restacking the various items that had been searched already (the industrious little creatures unable to stand the disorder). Those items that were useful or worth something (such as the jewelry, books, clothes, serviceable furniture, or working invisibility cloaks they found) were loaded into boxes or trunks and whisked away to an empty vault for temporary storage.

Everything would be sold off and the money given to Hogwarts once the war was over in order to pay for any repairs needed or to cover the fees to keep the school running while the wizarding world recovered (the school had lost a significant portion of its funding with the loss of muggleborns this year). Anything that was dangerous was packed up separately and tucked into a different vault where it could be dealt with later while the rest of the junk was simply shifted out of the way.

Eight and a half hours later, Azalea was standing in front of the Vanishing Cabinet that Montague (Chaser and Quidditch Captain for Slytherin's Quidditch team in Azalea's fifth year) had once been stuffed into and that she knew had been used to bring the Death Eaters into the castle at the end of what would have been her sixth year thanks to what she had gleaned from Malfoy's memories. The cabinet was ignored for the moment; her gaze trained instead on the wig covered bust of some long-dead wizard sitting up on top of the cabinet or more specifically the tarnished diadem perched upon the bust.

She'd recognized the diadem the moment she'd laid eyes on it and even before she'd scanned it with her wand, she'd known it was one of Riddle's horcruxes. Ravenclaw's long lost Diadem was apparently one of the Founders' precious treasures that Voldemort had inevitably sought out after he'd left Hogwarts (the other two objects being Hufflepuff's Cup and Slytherin's Locket). The corrupt wizard was an egotistical pack rat and owning important treasures appealed to his nature and in the British magical society, there were few magicals more important than the Founders of Hogwarts.

"So that's it then, eh?" Moody growled out as he stomped up behind the petite witch after she'd whistled to gain everyone's attention just five minutes earlier. "What are ya waiting for lass? Get it down and let's get the hell out of here. The Feast has been over for hours now and it won't be long before someone comes along patrolling the corridor outside and they're bound to notice the extra door."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little short and levitating it won't work; the magic just slips right off of it," Azalea retorted with no small amount of exasperation as she tried to hide her unease over the thought of touching the horcrux out of fear that it might do something to the babes growing in her stomach.

"Don't you have a broom in that bag of yours?"

"Oh that would have been a brilliant idea; yes, let's go ahead and use a professional racing broom in a room full of junk that could easily be knocked over."

"I've seen you on that broom, lass; you know exactly what you're doing and you could have easily raced through this room at full speed five feet above the ground without touching a damn thing. Or you could have just used it to lift the damn diadem off of its perch since it is more than long enough to reach, It's not that you can't get it… you just don't want to touch the blasted crown. Why?"

"Does she need a reason why?" Remus asked dryly as he walked up beside the pair. "She's dealt with more than one of the horcruxes already and I for one don't blame her for not wanting to deal with another."

"Hmpf, kid's run head first into far worse things and never hesitated."

"Like you're one to speak," Tonks tossed out as she joined them next. "Shall I bring the bugger down then?"

"No; we don't want it to get lost amidst the rubbish again when you inevitably trip over a splinter and drop it," Moody snarked as he grabbed a broken coat rack from the nearest pile of junk and used it to lift the crown down off the bust it rested upon.

"That was low, Mad-Eye."

"Quit your bellyaching and open that silk lined graphorn bag so I can toss this in it and we can leave."

Azalea didn't take her eyes off of the diadem or the bag it went into until the bag was tucked inside of Moody's cloak and then she sighed and rubbed at her face as she silently thought, _only one more of the stupid things left now._

"Call your elves and that blasted bird and let's get out of here now."

Azalea glanced up at the grumpy ex-auror over her fingers and rolled her eyes before she summoned the elves and her phoenix. Five minutes later, the door to the room they were inside of melted back into the wall as if it had never been there in the first place and no trace remained of them or the room they'd found the horcrux in. Azalea only waited long enough to make certain everyone had made it back before she headed upstairs to take a bath; needing to wash away the filth clinging to her skin from searching through the room of junk.

She had barely gone ten steps before an argument broke out between Bill and Moody about who should be the one to destroy the latest horcrux; both men insisting that they each had more experience in dealing with dark artifacts.

The witch snorted and shook her head as she called back over her shoulder, "If the two of you are going to squabble like children, I'm going to stand you both in the corner and send you to bed without supper. It doesn't matter who swings the bloody sword just so long as the damn thing is destroyed."

The guffaws coming from the other men and the two older witches followed Azalea up the stairs but she ignored them as a bone deep weariness stole over her. She reached up and played with the painfully silent and lukewarm earring on her left ear as she made her way to her room. The petite witch wasn't surprised to find a change of clothes already laid out on her bed and a warm bath filled with scented oils already prepared in the bathroom that Kreacher had attached to her chosen bedroom to give her more privacy; Minky had become an expert at reading Azalea over the last two months and the diligent little elf always seemed to know what she wanted almost before Azalea herself knew.

After stripping out of her dirty clothes and pulling her near shoulder length hair out of the messy braid she had started keeping the wild locks in to keep them out of her face (the witch had continued to let her hair grow out in memory of Kurapika's earlier suggestion), Azalea rinsed most of the dirt and sweat from her body using the shower before she slipped into the tub to relax. As she lounged in the lavender scented water, her thoughts turned to her absent lover and she wondered what he was doing.

She knew he was still alive but she also knew that something had happened as she'd not felt anything from her earring in over a week now. Sometimes she feared that he had learned about the eyes she'd been collecting. Other times she feared he'd guessed about the babies she was carrying; babies she had never told him she was carrying. And then there were the times she feared that he'd forgotten all about her. Feelings of discontent drove her from the water a few minutes later and Azalea dried off and changed into the sleep wear that Minky had set out for her before she curled up beneath the covers and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

With all but one of the horcruxes destroyed, Azalea spent the next month and a half resting and recouping as she waited for Voldemort to make his next move so that she could catch him out in the open in order to destroy him and his pet snake. She also spent quite a bit of time studying the seventh year material, digging through the information Dumbledore had left her for information on the final Potter Ability, securing copies of her memories of every single important event that had taken place since she'd returned (to document the war and her part in it), and lightly exercising in order to keep her mind occupied and her body in shape as best she could.

The young mother-to-be also researched ways to hide her pregnancy as she had already developed a noticeable (if still small) baby bump due to the fact that she so thin and because she was carrying twins.

She ended up charming two sheath style, strapless corsets made from dragon hide with Protective Wards, Shield Charms, weak Warming Charms, Privacy Wards (to block Moody's charmed eye), charms to provide extra comfort and support (for her breasts), and specialized Undetectable Expansion Charms to provide room for her growing stomach and breasts. One corset would hide just her growing belly and the other one would hide both her stomach and her breasts for when she needed to disguise herself as a man (her breasts now large enough that binding them with bandages wasn't practical after gaining yet another half of cup in size due to her pregnancy).

Both corsets went from armpit to the top of her thighs, snugly fit over her entire torso without being too tight and unlike normal corsets did not give her an over exaggerated hourglass form, and zipped up on the left side with the one designed to hide her breasts lacking any form along the bust line. The shifts would also double as an additional layer of protection beneath her dueling cloak and dragon hide vest in order to add an extra layer of security if she ended up in a fight (one of the reasons why they'd been made from dragon hide and not from linen or lace). The shift that hid both her abdomen and her breasts saw far more use as she felt more confident fighting without her growing breasts getting in the way.

Some of her tension and stress faded once she had a secure and safe way of hiding her condition from her allies and enemies alike; Madam Pomfrey still the only witch that was aware of her pregnancy. She still hadn't decided on whether or not she was going to inform Chairman Netero or Dr. Mackle about the babies (the former because he was technically her boss and the latter because she was leaning towards giving birth outside of the wizarding world in order to protect her children from the prejudices of the wizarding world). Whether she did or not though would depend greatly upon if she could find the courage to tell Kurapika that he'd be a father in roughly five months.

Azalea still hated keeping her pregnancy from her lover but she didn't want him to feel obligated to turn his back on his vow of vengeance just because of her or the babies. She also was afraid that he'd be angry with her for getting pregnant in the first place and she still had no idea how he felt about children in general let alone having children of his own. The fact that her earring had still not given her any indication as to what he was feeling and that he hadn't thought of her in so long only made it harder to find the courage to tell him (the witch completely forgetting to take into consideration the time differences between their current locations and the possibility that his sleeping schedule had changed).

She only knew he was alive because she still wore the Nen ring he'd given her on her finger.

On the fifteenth of December, when there had still been no sign of Voldemort or Nagini, Remus and Viktor escorted Azalea to Godric's Hallow to visit her parents' graves for the first time after she learned of their final resting place from Dumbledore's journals. She spent a half an hour just staring down at the shared gravestone recalling the conversation she'd held with her parents and Sirius several months earlier before she left a half dozen enchanted lilies in a Nen vase nestled between the two graves (both the flowers and the vase enchanted and protected like the one she'd left beside Dumbledore's tomb).

The trio had then spent time wandering around Godric's Hallow so that Azalea could see the memorials that had been built for her and her parents; one of which was the remains of the cottage where Voldemort had attacked her and her parents all those years ago.

It was while they were standing in front of the ruins of the cottage that they were approached by a strange old woman that smelled strongly of snake. Remus recognized her as Bathilda Bagshot and the werewolf had begun to suspect that something was wrong when the woman (who was well known for her sharp memory and biting wit) failed to recognize him in return despite the fact that he'd met with her several times through the years since he finished Hogwarts. Ten minutes after being approached by the woman, they discovered that Bathilda was dead and her body was being used as a flesh suit by Nagini when the snake attacked them the moment it became apparent that they didn't trust 'Bathilda'.

The two wizards didn't hesitate to hold the snake off while Azalea summoned Dobby and Fawkes and ordered the elf to bring her Gryffindor's Sword. Fawkes joined in the fight with the two wizards the moment he flashed to Azalea's side; the phoenix immediately attacking the Nagini's head and eyes much as he'd attacked the basilisk in Azalea's second year. As soon as Dobby returned with the sword, Azalea waded into the fight and cleaved Nagini's head from his body; the witch destroying the final horcrux at the same time.

Unfortunately, it had taken far too many precious seconds for Dobby to bring her the sword and she'd not been fast enough to stop the snake before it had bitten Remus. She tried to get Fawkes to cry on the bite but Remus stopped her as he revealed that undiluted phoenix tears were poisonous to werewolves. Not willing to lose her self-adopted uncle, Azalea bagged Nagini's severed head and told Viktor to let everyone back at Headquarters know what had happened while she had Fawkes transport Remus and herself directly to Dr. Mackle.

If the older Hunter slash doctor was shocked by her unexpected appearance, he gave no indication he calmly listened to her explanation on why she was there and what she needed. That mostly involved her dumping Remus onto the nearest bed, shoving Nagini's severed head at the good doctor, and imperiously ordering him to save the wizard's life while threatening bodily harm if Remus should die. She also warned the doctor that he only had until the next full moon due to Remus's condition (thankfully, that gave Dr. Mackle a full month as the last full moon had been just the night before).

Azalea had then called Tanker to come watch over Remus and help the doctor by obtaining any potions needed to treat the werewolf before she had Fawkes take her home. A frantic Tonks practically tackled the witch the moment she reappeared inside of Grimmauld Place. Once Azalea had assured the older witch that Remus was in good hands and that he was both alive and being watched over by Tanker, she learned that Remus and Tonks had married in secret nearly five months earlier (just two weeks before Azalea's seventeenth birthday) and that Tonks was pregnant.

Azalea nearly broke into hysterical laughter when she learned that Tonks was due right about the same time that she was due (the older witch also hiding her condition for much the same reasons as Azalea – though she used different methods to do so).

Remus returned to them on Christmas Eve, the werewolf still weak but undeniably alive thanks to Azalea's quick thinking and a little muggle medicine. The entire Order celebrated long into the night over Remus's happy return, the unveiling of the couple's long hidden status (due to the current werewolf laws), and the announcement that Tonks was expecting. Remus panicked a bit as the news that Tonks was several months pregnant had been kept from him as well and the only reason he didn't bolt in a panic was because Ted and Andromeda were present and giving him warning glares.

Fleur announced her pregnancy the same night to Bill's shock and everlasting joy; the partial veela due in early May.

Azalea had been tempted to confess her own pregnancy as she listened to everyone in the Order celebrating the happy announcements but chickened out so as not to take away attention from the older two witches. Minky was ecstatic that she was given even more duties as she took over monitoring the health of the two witches whenever they were in Headquarters (Fleur and Bill actually lived in a small warded cottage they'd purchased on the coast). All three male elves were pleased too as they were given the task of helping Fleur keep her house clean.

The rest of the year passed by in the blink of an eye and Azalea was hard pressed to recall what she'd done during that time due to her struggles against the despair she felt over the continued separation from Kurapika and the guilt she felt over keeping her pregnancy a secret from pretty much everyone. And even though she was surrounded by friends and family she felt utterly and completely alone.

She would be snapped out of her downward spiral on the day after New Year's when Bill and Charlie brought her the last three pairs of Scarlet Eyes that they'd collected from their maternal aunt. She'd spent the rest of the day composing a rather difficult letter to Kurapika, explaining how she'd gotten a hold of the eyes and why she'd not told him that she'd been collecting them sooner. She apologized for withholding the information from him and told him that she'd understand if he was upset with her before stating she'd only done what she had felt was best in order to protect him.

Azalea had also tried a hundred different ways of telling him about the babies but gave up in the end because she figured revealing one long kept secret was enough of a blow to deliver at the moment.

The short thank you note she received early the next morning left her with mixed feelings as she couldn't tell whether or not her lover was angry with her or not. She was not quite brave enough to send him another note to ask him either; since confirmation of his anger would have been far worse than the not knowing.

Seven days later, almost the entire Order of the Phoenix (a total of forty-one men and women – not including the two openly pregnant witches that were securely tucked behind the wards at Grimmauld Place) were back at Hogwarts facing off against the remaining Death Eaters and Voldemort. The Dark Lord had gone to the school in order to raid Dumbledore's tomb for Dumbledore's wand; the Dark Lord unaware that Azalea had already claimed it and that a fake had been placed inside of the tomb.

Professor McGonagall had been the one to see the wizard appear on the grounds and she'd sent word to the Order via her Patronus. Voldemort had called his remaining Death Eaters to him (of which there were now only three dozen, including the five inner circle members) the moment Azalea and the Order had shown up while he was in the middle of trying to crack open Dumbledore's tomb.

The Order's main job was to take out the Death Eaters while Azalea, half hidden beneath the Cloak of Invisibility (to make it harder for her to be targeted from behind by the Death Eaters), dealt with the Dark Lord.

Azalea held nothing back as she used bokken, wand, Nen, and magic in her efforts to destroy the man turned monster now that they were certain they'd taken care of all his horcruxes. She only prayed that the battle didn't draw out too long because she knew she wouldn't last long due to how much of her strength her pregnancy had sapped from her. She also couldn't allow the Dark Lord to slip away because there was no guarantee that she'd be able to find him again if he escaped. She also knew that if he ever suspected all of his horcruxes had been destroyed, he'd go to ground for years to rebuild his strength and potentially create more of the blasted soul fragment receptacles.

So Azalea forced the older wizard to dance to her tune as she used every trick Kurapika, Mizuken, and her allies had taught her in addition to everything she'd taught herself over the past year and a half. She ignored the man's taunts and taunted him right back by throwing each and every one of his failure's back in his face along with those that had been made by his former servants as she continuously countered and blocked his attacks in between her attacks.

Flash-Step, slash of the sword, Nen bullet, block, curse, sword thrust, hex, Flash-Step, block, Nen conjured whip attack, sword swing, dodge, hex, Flash-Step, stab, hex, Flash-Step, block, Flash-Step, sword swing followed by a slash, dodge, and another Nen bullet. Her body bending, twisting, ducking, and jumping smoothly as she wielded her swords with her left hand, her wand with her right, her Nen and wandless abilities with a mere thought and a flick of her hands, and her ability to Flash-Step to evade the worst of the Dark Lord's curses. Each step she took brought her closer as she fought with everything she had.

Getting closer to the Dark Lord was not without risks though and Azalea was hit with a dark cutting hex that was thankfully deflected by her dueling cloak, vest, corset, and aura shroud she wrapped around her at the start of the battle; otherwise she'd have been cut nearly in half and lost both babies in the same instant. Angered at how close Voldemort had come to harming her unborn children, Azalea flashed stepped right in front of the man and she caught her free bokken blade in her wand hand at the same time as he cast the Killing Curse.

The green light brushed against the Wand of Destiny and her right hand sword before it struck the Stone of Resurrection through the Cloak of Invisibility as it swirled in front of her with the momentum of her final step. The moment the wretched curse slammed into the Resurrection Stone, it brushed up against the death magic that currently enshrouded Azalea through her connection to all three of the Hallows and was reflected back at the Dark Lord.

At the same time as Voldemort's own curse washed over him for the second time (the first time being when he attacked Azalea as a baby), Azalea plunged one Nen enhanced wooden blade through the dark wizard's heart while the other blade stabbed up through the soft tissue below his chin and up into his brain. It would never be determined whether Azalea killed the Dark Lord with her bokken or if he'd died by his reflected curse; no one particularly cared though, they were just happy that he was dead.

Azalea staggered backwards and collapsed to her knees in exhaustion a heartbeat later as the dead weight of the Dark Lord's dead body fell against her. She shoved the body away from her in disgust before she dropped her hands onto the ground; her entire body aching as she struggled just to breath properly through the exhaustion that was both physical and magical.

Emotionally, the young witch just felt numb and empty as she stared blankly at the corpse of the man that had haunted her nightmares since she was a baby.

A man that had made himself into a monster that had terrorized an entire society for more than three decades.

The weary witch could hear a chorus of cheers sounding as if from a distance and a small part of her realized that the rest of the Order must have already dealt with the Death Eaters that were present but the rest of her didn't really care. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she'd fought Voldemort and won. Another long minute passed and Azalea found herself laying on her side still staring the sightless and bloody corpse of Voldemort as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

Just before her vision went black completely, Azalea felt Fawkes drop down onto her shoulder before the warmth of the phoenix's flames engulfed her before the phoenix transported her away from Hogwarts.

* * *

**11-01-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	36. Snapshots x of a x Hunter

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Six: Snapshots x of a x Hunter

Kurapika sighed and flopped backwards on the bed as he tried not to regret letting Azalea leave. Watching the witch disappear in a swirl of flames, knowing she wouldn't be coming back any time soon, had been one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. Even now he wanted to chase after her and bring her back. Draping his arm over his face, Kurapika focused on the buzzing hum radiating from his left ear and took comfort in the fact that his little kitten was thinking of him just as he was think of her.

The coldness radiating from the same ear was more than a little disconcerting after the heat he'd felt since the moment the earring was first placed; the earring had gone cold the moment Azalea had slid out of bed to get dressed just thirty minutes earlier.

And then her emotions had cut off completely, though he could still hear the buzzing hum. Part of him ached as he knew she'd just shut down completely as he'd seen her do time and time again since the day he met her. Oh how he hated the mask she wore when she felt she had to hide who she was; hated that she closed herself off so completely that her heart might as well be made of stone. When her emotions returned several hours later, it was in a torrent of ice and Kurapika was pulled out of an uneasy sleep from the sheer chill burning his ear.

He concentrated on his memories of the last twenty-four hours he'd spent with her and let the love he felt for her fill his heart in order to send her what comfort he could. He couldn't help but grin as he felt the iciness disappear in an instant as it was replaced with heat while the humming buzz grew louder. Knowing he could cheer her up just by thinking of her and of what she meant to him was a precious gift and he silently congratulated and thanked the witch for her foresight as not even his Nen rings could convey warmth and comfort like the earring dangling from his ear could.

The blond couldn't fall back asleep after that as the earring fluctuated between hot and cold while it continuously buzzed in his ear and he wondered what she was doing. After a while it went even colder than it had been earlier and he wished he knew how to find her so he could wrap her in his arms and never let her go again; if only to save her from whatever it was that was hurting her or bothering her. The chill seemed to last for hours before the earring slowly grew warm and he felt more than a little thankful that she was feeling better now and hoped she was at least with friends at the moment.

Still unable to fall back asleep, Kurapika climbed out of bed, took a quick shower, and got dressed before he grabbed his bokken and headed outside. He then spent the remaining two hours before dawn running through his katas while trying not to think about the fact that he was well and truly alone again for the first time in seven and a half months. He also refused to acknowledge the fact that he'd undoubtedly stay that way for a long, long time to come due to duty and a prophecy.

Kurapika cursed his inattention a minute later as he slammed one of his bokken into his ribs when he fumbled through the current kata.

By the time the sun rose, Kurapika was feeling a little more in control of himself though he was covered with more than a few bruises from where he'd smacked himself with his swords. It helped that he hadn't felt the burning iciness from the earring in his left ear after the last time. He returned to the tent to take another shower and found the bed had been made, his clothes had been washed, and all of his things had been neatly laid out on the bed. It was a harsh reminder that his time with Azalea was over and the blond sagged under the reminder that his feisty little witch wasn't just out training or playing about in her cat form.

Two hours later, Kurapika could be found walking through the forest towards the Agency once more. Disguising his brown eyes was a pair of black contacts that would mute and hide the scarlet flames of his rage. Additionally, instead of wearing his usual red and blue tabard over a white shirt and slacks, this time he was wearing a blue and gold two piece ensemble over a long sleeved, white tunic with pale mint green accents and white slacks. It was the short tabard, full skirt/kilt, and tunic of an adult male Kurta but more importantly, the pattern of the gold accents identified him as both the Head of the Clan and as a married man.

Oh, he knew he technically wasn't married but in his mind Azalea was his wife in all but name and he fully intended to remedy that minor oversight the moment they had both fulfilled their obligations.

As he walked, the silence was broken only by the soft sounds of his footfalls on the dirt road that led into the ruins and his ears kept straining to hear an answering echo of footsteps behind him and the longer those footsteps remained absent, the harder it became for him to continue walking. Yet, he did not stop; not even when it seemed as if his entire body was straining against his desire to turn around and run back to the clearing that he'd lived in for the last six months with _her_.

This time, when he entered the city there were other people moving up and down the streets and his footsteps turned more cautious as he moved through the crowd (he'd been alone with just Azalea and Mizuken for so long that even just the small handful of people moving on the streets felt like an overwhelming crowd). His eyes swept left and right as he marked each and every person and categorized them in his mind by the level of threat they represented. Whenever he felt someone's eyes fall on him, Kurapika didn't fail to recognize the feeling for what it was and he made special note of any one that watched him for more than ten heartbeats.

He reached the entrance to the Agency a short while later and as he entered its dark interior, he locked his worries and regrets away while trying to focus on the task at hand; it was time for him to hunt the Spider.

* * *

Kurapika returned to his hotel room near midnight on the nineteenth of August after successfully tracking down a braided lock of hair that was from the famous actress known only as Sara to find Dobby sitting on the bed swinging his feet back and forth. The eighteen year old wasn't certain whether he should be happy or worried that the elf was sitting there but eventually settled on happy when he noted how happy the elf looked the moment the creature looked up and saw him entering the room.

"Hello, Dobby."

"Hello Master James's K'apika."

"Did James send you?" Kurapika asked after noting the fact that the elf was using Azalea's Hunter alias instead of her real name while ignoring the way the elf still had trouble saying his name.

"Yes. Master James is sending Dobby with a letter and a package for his K'apika," Dobby agreed as he pulled a flat box and a ribbon wrapped scroll from inside of the baggy maroon sweater he wore over a pair of blue satin shorts. "Master James is asking Dobby to wait if Master James's K'apika is wanting to write back."

"I have a letter already written but let me see what he sent before you take it; in case I need to add anything to what I already wrote," Kurapika stated as he accepted the items from Dobby.

A brief glance at the letter showed it to be much like the letter that he'd written to the witch; long and written in sections over the course of the past nineteen days. He smiled fondly at Azalea's signature at the bottom before he set the letter aside and opened the package that had come with it. His breath caught in his throat the moment he saw the first picture of Azalea all dolled up and wearing a dress. Kurapika had known she was beautiful from the moment he'd learned she was a girl (having previously thought her to be handsome when he'd still believed her to be a boy) but she looked absolutely gorgeous in the pictures he'd just been given.

The dress complimented her figure which had filled out over the past six months and hinted at the woman she would be in a few years. The ruby jewelry she wore (of which he noted the additional pieces) added a measure of sophistication that the young witch had been missing previously and Kurapika could easily imagine her looking right at home amidst royalty. The new hairstyle allowed one to see the entirety of her delicate face and he wondered how he'd ever believed her to be a boy as he stared at the young woman in the photo smiling shyly at the camera.

Kurapika's pants were feeling uncomfortable tight as his body reacted to the photos and he wished he could have been there on the day they had been taken. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and ravish her before peeling her dress off so that he could make love to her all night long. He barely even noticed the beautiful blondes that had gathered around Azalea in more than a few of the pictures; their almost heavenly beauty cold and pale when compared to Azalea's burning earthly beauty in his eyes.

Grabbing a sheet of paper, Kurapika scribbled off a single sentence before passing the paper to Dobby along with the long letter he'd been adding to bit by bit over the past few weeks. The elf wished him well and vanished a moment later and Kurapika was left alone in the hotel room with several dozen pictures of the woman he planned to marry. It was only a few minutes after the elf's departure that Kurapika finally came across the only wizarding image in the entire packet of photos.

The still photos of the witch in her dress and in her red cloak had taken his breath away and turned him on but that single moving photo not only stole his breath and made him want to have his way with his woman, it took hold of his heart and had his eyes burning scarlet with unbridled desire.

Seeing the vision of beauty that was his woman fighting the masked attackers like an avenging angel set his blood on fire as he watched her dancing with fire with each step she took. His body ached and burned with his need for her and he cursed the fates that had forced them apart as he sat on the bed with that photo in his hands until well after sunrise the next morning.

Leaving the hotel and making his way back to his potential future employer had been even harder than allowing Azalea to leave his side; especially when all he really wanted to do was call Dobby and beg the elf take him to Azalea.

* * *

Kurapika felt on edge as the airship that carried him, his fellow bodyguards, and his new boss landed at an airport just outside of Yorknew City at sunset on the thirty-first of August. More and more often lately his earring had been dead and silent for long stretches of time with periods of burning cold interspersed and he almost wished that Azalea had been able to weave more capabilities into the earring so he'd know exactly what was going on.

And while it bothered him to know that the pendant rarely every filled with warmth any more; it was the long stretches of time where the earring seemed like nothing more than an ordinary earring that he hated the most.

Their group had just finished checking into the hotel after a ninety minute drive when Kurapika felt a sharp spike of searing cold slam into his ear quite unexpectedly. The sharp ache of it spread down his neck and over his jaw and he barely managed to avoid crying out at the suddenness of the feedback from the explosion of negative emotions though he couldn't help but wince and grab his ear. He actually thought he might get frostbite in his ear from how cold it was as it spiked even colder before suddenly buzzing like a hive of angry bees in his ear.

And then the earring went dead and Kurapika swallowed thickly as feeling gradually returned to his ear while the pain receded.

When the earring began humming a soft buzz and radiating a slight chill a half an hour later, Kurapika worried even more because he had no idea what just happened. His mind automatically leaping to Azalea's fight with Leroute and the torment he'd seen in her eyes that day, her panicked meltdown after her wand shattered, the fury she'd unleashed when Killua's brother threatened to kill Gon, and the utter terror he'd witnessed in her eyes the night Hisoka had attacked her.

Those four moments stood out in his mind as the only incidents where Azalea's negative emotions could be comparable to what he'd felt through the earring.

Kurapika ignored the concerned and suspicious looks he was getting from his fellow bodyguards as he reached up to rub his jaw and left ear. It took a considerable effort to shove the worry he felt for his absent lover out of his mind so that he could concentrate on his job. As much as he loved his fiery little witch, he would not and could not shirk his vow of retribution against those that had so ruthlessly murdered his entire clan.

Later that night, Kurapika felt a steady warmth coming from his earring along with a loud buzzing hum and all of his earlier worries faded away with the knowledge that Azalea was apparently fine, feeling much better, and thinking of him now.

* * *

Kurapika had already been in a foul mood when his phone jangled to indicate that he'd been sent a message. It had been a terrible night and he felt impotent with the knowledge that the Phantom Troupe had struck again and he'd been helpless to stop them. Not even the fact that he had actually managed to capture one of them could cut through his frustration and rage.

Pulling out his phone, he opened the message and immediately glared down at the screen when he saw who it was that had texted him. He didn't know which pissed him off more; the fact that the man had the balls to contact him after what he'd done or the fact that he was actually considering meeting the man as they'd originally agreed within hours of the Final Phase of the Exam ending all those months ago.

In the end, he decided it would be prudent to at least know what the man wanted and what he expected in return for any information he was willing to offer before he completely wrote off a potential source of information on the Phantom Troupe.

Kurapika briefly wondered if Azalea would hate him the moment she learned that he willingly met with Hisoka as he made his way to the run down carnival on the outskirts of Yorknew City that Hisoka had told him to meet him at. After a while, he came to the conclusion that no, she'd not hate him for meeting with the older man but she'd be angry at him for taking a risk, even if she understood his reasons for doing so. It was one of the things he loved about the witch; she did not judge him and did not seek to tell him how to go about avenging his clan. She accepted his choices.

That still didn't stop him from feeling like he was betraying her trust as he headed towards the meeting place.

The young man soon arrived at the darkened and deserted carnival and he took a moment to study the entrance using Gyo for evidence that someone had left behind any Nen traps. Once he determined that it was safe (or at least relatively safe considering that he was meeting with Hisoka), Kurapika stepped inside of the carnival and began making his way towards the carousel where Hisoka had told him he'd be waiting. He ended up circling the broken merry-go-round twice before Hisoka made his appearance and Kurapika warily searched the surroundings for any other concealed presences as well as checked to make certain that the older Hunter was not actively using his Nen before he focused completely on the redhead.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show," Hisoka offered from his perch on one of the undamaged carousel horses as he glanced up from the patch of ground he'd been tossing his cards down onto in a game of solitaire.

"I merely came to see what you wanted," Kurapika replied with false indifference as he pretended to be bored with the entire situation.

"I see. You know, I am a little surprised to find you traveling alone."

Kurapika said nothing in response, not wishing to give the other man any clues as to what he was thinking or feeling at the moment. He knew exactly who it was that the man was expecting him to be traveling with, after all, and the eighteen year old had no intention of providing Hisoka with any clues as to Azalea's whereabouts.

"So that is how it is going to be; I suppose I should not be surprised. Have you been taking proper care of my little mouse?"

The only reason Kurapika didn't react to the reference to Azalea was because he'd been expecting it from the moment he'd been contacted by Hisoka and he'd been mentally fortifying himself against anything Hisoka could possible say in regards to Azalea from the moment he'd reached the decision to see what the man wanted. But oh, how he wanted to rip the man's head off and shove it up his… yeah, best not focus on just how badly he wanted to kill the man least he lose control and do something stupid.

"You are being exceedingly stubborn, Kurapika. I expected you to at least be willing to cooperate with me since you came to see me of your own freewill."

"I'm still waiting for you to state what it is you want from me," Kurapika casually replied as he flicked away a non-existent piece of lint from his tabard. "I'm not here to make idle chit-chat and if that is all that you are interested in, then I shall be leaving."

"That is a shame; I love idle chit-chat," Hisoka replied as his lips curled up into the slightest of smiles. "I suppose it can't be helped; so to business it is. The fact of the matter is that I know that I have something that you want and that you have something that I want. So, here is the deal that I am willing to make with you; I will provide you with the information that you seek about the Spider and you will tell me what I want to know in return. When we have finished exchanging our knowledge, I will provide you with a location and you will provide me with a location in return."

"I am willing to cooperate; however, if the information you give me is something I already know, then I will not provide you with any information in return as I will not pay you for that which I have already know. I will also walk away the moment you seek anything that I am not willing to give."

"I expected just such an answer from you. Do you have time now or shall we make plans to meet again?"

"I have time; tell me what you know."

Hisoka bowed his head minutely before he started, "The Spider is comprised of thirteen members and each member can be identified by the numbered spider tattoo they wear upon their bodies. Applicants that wish to join the Troupe are required to face one of the current members in armed combat and, if the applicant wins, he replaces the member he defeated and takes his or her number. The Head of the Spider will choose an appropriate replacement member if the Troupe should lose a member outside of a challenge. Surely that much information is worth an answer to my earlier question on how well you've been taking care of my little mouse?"

"All you did was give me a bit of common knowledge that any petty criminal could have gotten by just walking down the street. Information, I might add, that I already knew. If you have nothing worthwhile to tell me, then I will leave."

"I see. Very well, I joined the Phantom Troupe two and a half years ago when I replaced the previous number four and since I have joined there has been no change in membership. If you wish to know more then you will have to answer my question."

"He is fine," Kurapika grudgingly supplied, knowing there was nothing the other man could learn from the cryptic answer. "What did you think to gain by telling me when you joined the Phantom Troupe? And why did you join in the first place?"

"Ah, so she is still pretending is she?" Hisoka mused as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well I suppose it doesn't really matter… In answer to your first question, it is not so much a matter of me gaining anything by telling you when I joined the Troupe as opposed to it not costing me anything to reveal that information. As for why I joined…? The boss is a strong opponent and I wish to fight him. Why is my little mouse not with you? Does she even know you came to meet with me or did you sneak out like a thief in the night in order to protect her?"

"He left," Kurapika answered with a trace of frustration as Hisoka insisted upon referring to Azalea's proper gender despite Kurapika's attempts to keep up the façade that she was a boy in accordance with her wishes to keep her true gender out of the public light and in case someone was listening. "And you joined a group of murders and thieves to simply test your strength? Surely you could have done so without joining the Troupe?"

"She left? That's it? And you let her go? I thought I ordered you to take care of my mouse for me, Kurapika?"

Kurapika didn't bother answering this time, the man's first few questions striking a sour cord within the blond as he was still castigating himself for allowing the woman he loved to walk out of his life. He was also having a hard time holding his temper because of Hisoka's constant claims that Azalea belonged to the older man when she belonged to him and him alone.

"So she is with him again then? I shall have to have words with Gon about my little mouse then; it would not do for him to become too attached to what does not belong to him. Shall we conclude our business here, then? It would seem I have pressing business elsewhere that I must attend to before the night is over. Tell me where Gon is hiding my mouse and I shall provide you with information I have on the abilities of seven members of the Troupe."

Kurapika was already walking away; he had no intention of giving the man what he wanted. He was beginning to think that coming here tonight had been nothing but one big mistake. He should have known better but he'd been grasping at straws in an effort to get revenge upon the Spider for murdering his clan. A little information on the Spider was not worth handing the woman he loved over to a man that would do far worse than kill her.

"Are you leaving already? Did you not wish to hear what else I have to say?"

"No; you have nothing more I want and it is clear that you want something that I am not willing to give."

"You would walk away from information that could help you defeat the spider just to protect my mouse's little practice boyfriend?"

"No."

"Then why are you leaving?"

"Because I am not willing to share what belongs to me," Kurapika stated as he glared over his shoulder at Hisoka; his eyes burning a bright scarlet beneath the black contact he wore as he stopped repressing his rage. "I'll warn you now, Hisoka; if you ever come near my wife again, I will kill you… if she doesn't kill you first."

The look on Hisoka's face was priceless and Kurapika smiled viciously as he knew he'd just pulled the rug out from under the man. The fact that Hisoka had apparently never once considered the possibility that it wasn't Gon that Azalea had been involved with was amusing and enlightening as it proved that the man was not above making mistakes or jumping to conclusions; useful information, that.

He might later regret bringing his relationship with Azalea to the man's attention (if only because he knew she'd be mad at him for putting himself in harms way by standing between Hisoka and his prize – which in this case was Azalea) but it would have been far worse to allow the man to go after Gon. Azalea might be mad at him for adding a target on his back but she'd have been pissed beyond words if he allowed Gon to be hurt just to protect himself (or her).

Heat suffused his left ear along with the comforting buzzing hum and Kurapika turned his back on Hisoka once more as he allowed thoughts of Azalea to wash away his rage.

Sadly, his good mood vanished just minutes later when Melody (a fellow Hunter that had been hired as a bodyguard by the same family Kurapika now worked for) called him to report that the Troupe member he'd captured earlier that day had been rescued by other members of the Troupe and that the leader of their small squad of bodyguards could not be reached; meaning that the man was undoubtedly dead. Kurapika was beyond furious with himself that he'd not been present for yet a second time when the Troupe had struck.

This time he wondered if Hisoka's meeting had been a ploy to get him out of the way while they rescued the man that Kurapika had captured earlier.

* * *

Kurapika sighed as he stared out the window. He felt weary…beyond weary. So much had happened over the last four and a half months. From the moment he'd arrived in Yorknew City, it had been nothing but one disaster right after another. So many people dead. And for what? A whim…? A petty theft…? It was the slaughter of his clan all over again, only this time it was strangers being killed left and right.

_Strangers and co-workers_, Kurapika corrected absently in his mind as he recalled the five individuals that he'd worked beside for a brief time before they'd been killed by the Spider during the Auction and the mess that had followed.

That had been ages ago though, back when he'd still been hunting the Spider in Yorknew City while protecting Neon Nostrade and her father Raito Nostrade. He'd killed two of their members and crippled their leader over the course of the twelve days he'd spent in Yorknew City. During that time, he'd also been promoted to the position of leader of Neon's bodyguards after Dalzollene (the former leader) had been killed by the Phantom Troupe when they'd freed the man that Kurapika had captured on the night of the first.

He'd also managed to retrieve a single pair of his clan's eyes only to discover the eyes had been fake copies. Oh how that had pissed him off; to know he'd been tricked and that the eyes of his family had been stolen right out from under his nose a second time.

Kurapika had missed most of the events that happened after the fifth though due to a heavy fever that was the result of him pushing his limits in order to deal with Chrollo Lucilfer (the former leader of the Spider) and Pakunoda (another member of the Troupe) while getting Gon and Killua freed from the Spider's clutches. The two twelve year olds had been captured while helping Kurapika capture the leader of the Spider and the blond had felt guilty beyond belief for allowing the two kids to talk him into allowing them to help.

Though to be fair, both boys were exceedingly stubborn and determined and they probably would have gotten into far worse trouble if he'd refused to let them help at the time.

The entire situation had ended up one huge mess and Kurapika had struggled with his need for revenge against his desire to protect the two boys. It had actually been the memory of Azalea throwing herself between Killua and Bodoro that had helped him come to the only decision he could live with and he'd chosen the lives of his young friends over the death of the man that had ordered the Spider to slaughter his clan for their eyes.

And while Chrollo may still live, Kurapika had crippled the man's ability to use Nen using his Judgment Chain (which was also how he'd managed to kill Pakunoda and Uvogin; the latter being the first Troupe member that Kurapika had captured and then later killed).

After the situation had been diffused (the Phantom Troop scattered), the auction ended, and the blond recovered from his exhaustion, Kurapika had returned to the Nostrade Estate with the other surviving bodyguards. Once they were settled back on the estate, Kurapika had immediately helped Mr. Nostrade hire replacements for those employees that had been killed during the course of attacks that had taken place over the first four days of September.

He'd then began using his new position as the most senior bodyguard to start collecting information on the various individuals that had ever purchased (and possibly later sold) even a single set of his clan's Scarlet Eyes. Mr. Nostrade never suspected a thing as Kurapika went through the man's contact lists under the guise of tracking down people who might pose a threat to the man's daughter. That list mainly contained those men and women that Neon had written at least one prophecy (or fortune) for ever since the child had developed the ability to use her Nen to predict the future.

Kurapika had began putting together detailed profiles on each name he took from that list and noted which individuals had not survived the disastrous auction and what had become of their estates. By the end of September, Kurapika had known where exactly fifteen pairs of eyes could be found and who was in possession of another pair of eyes (the latter pair being the ones that had slipped through Kurapika's hands during the Yorknew disaster due to the trickery of the Phantom Troupe).

He also knew that another eight pairs of Scarlet Eyes had been destroyed throughout the last twenty years (those eyes had been taken from members of the clan that had vanished after leaving the village prior to the massacre) thanks to the reading that Neon had offered to him right after he'd been promoted to lead bodyguard. He was originally going to politely refuse but he couldn't bring himself to hurt the girl's feelings and she had been rather insistent for some reason.

He was actually lucky he had accepted because the very next day, Neon had inexplicably lost her ability to predict the future. He hadn't refused though and as a result, he had learned the fate of those eight pairs of eyes and picked up a headache inducing riddle that he'd not yet completely figured out.

That had still left at least twenty pairs of Scarlet Eyes unaccounted for.

Over the course of October, November, and December, Kurapika had worked towards reclaiming the fifteen sets of eyes whose whereabouts he'd managed to track down. He also hunted for the smallest clue as to what had happened to the twenty pairs of unaccounted eyes. He had just started growing frustrated at the lack of progress on the latter task when an answer to the mystery of the vanishing eyes and a partial answer to the confusing riddle-like prophecy had come from an unexpected source roughly two weeks ago; Azalea.

Over the long months of separation, Kurapika had occasionally seen Dobby when the elf brought a new letter from Azalea and the friendly elf usually stuck around long enough for him to hand over a reply. So it was rather concerning when the elf had made an appearance on January third to deliver yet another letter and a package but promptly vanished right after he'd pushed both into Kurapika's hands. He'd been shocked beyond words when he'd read Azalea's letter and discovered that the package contained all twenty pairs of the Scarlet Eyes that he'd not been able to find any information on.

Kurapika had not known what to think or feel over the revelation that Azalea had hidden knowledge of his clan's eyes from him at first. He'd been both hurt and angry that she'd kept something so huge from him but after spending a few hours reflecting upon her reasons, he realized that she had just been trying to protect him from himself. She'd known that he'd have insisted upon retrieving those eyes personally and he didn't really know whether or not he could have faced an untold number of dark wizards and lived to tell about it.

He also couldn't deny the fact that she'd gone out of her way to insure that all twenty sets of eyes had been returned to him without delay the moment she had all of them in her hands.

He couldn't imagine retrieving those eyes had been any easier for her than retrieving the fifteen pairs he'd located had been for him. And collecting those fifteen eyes had been no walk in the park for the eighteen year old. Knowing that, Kurapika had settled on accepting Azalea's apology and wrote out a short thank you note that he thought had conveyed his full appreciation for what she'd done for him.

He'd then called Dobby back and asked the elf take the note to Azalea before he immediately began making plans to hold a proper funeral for his fallen clan now that he'd reclaimed all but a single set of eyes. He would have preferred to wait until he reclaimed the final pair but he didn't wish to risk anything happening to the ones he had after all of the work that had gone into retrieving them. Knowing that there was no reason for him to continuing working for Nostrade, Kurapika handed in his resignation and spent two days training his replacement before he had headed home to Lukso Province.

It had taken him two days to reach his former home and another three days in order to make preparations for the funeral services for his clan. A great weight had been lifted from his shoulders on the day of the funeral; he'd kept his promise to avenge his fallen family and he'd reclaimed all but one final set of eyes. Sure, he wasn't yet finished dealing with the Spider but he no longer felt a burning need to hunt them down; he'd crippled the Phantom Troupe, after all, and he knew he'd need to get stronger before he faced them in battle yet again.

After the funeral, Kurapika's thoughts turned to Azalea as he wondered how close she was to fulfilling the prophecy and if she was still fighting against the Death Eaters. The rest of that day was then spent trying to decide if he should hunt for the final missing set of eyes (which he knew to be in the hands of the Spider) or if he should make plans to track down Azalea instead. He wasn't really prepared to deal with the Troupe again just yet and at the same time, he worried about distracting Azalea from her duties if he should go to her now when he had no idea whether or not she was still neck deep in the wizarding war she'd hinted at repeatedly in the small handful of letters she'd sent him since the day they parted.

He still hadn't reached a decision by the next day when the choice of what he'd do next was taken from him by the unexpected arrival of Satotz with an urgent summons from Chairman Netero (though how the mouthless man had found him when he hadn't told anyone where he was going was a bit of a mystery).

That had been two days earlier and the reason why Kurapika was currently sitting beside the older Hunter in an airship circling around an airstrip not far from the Hunter Association's Headquarters when he'd much rather be doing something far more productive; such as hunting down his future wife and kissing her senseless. One did not disobey a direct order from the Chairman of the Hunter's Association though and Satotz had been most insistent that he not delay.

Kurapika sighed again as he felt the airship descend while he tried not to fret over the upcoming meeting with Chairman Netero. Once they debarked from the blimp, Kurapika followed Satotz out of the terminal in silence. The older man quickly hailed a taxi and in no time at all they were on their way to Headquarters. The ride was shorter than expected and before Kurapika could marshal his emotions, he was being ushered into Chairman Netero's office where he found Netero and Dr. Mackle both waiting for him wearing grim expressions.

"Thank you, Satotz; you may go," Chairman Netero stated before he addressed Kurapika. "I appreciate you dropping everything on such short notice, young man."

"It was no big deal, sir; I had not yet decided what my next move would be when Satotz delivered your summons so you didn't actually pull me away from anything. I'm more than a little confused as to why I am here though."

"Tell me, Kurapika, how much do you know about what is currently happening in the wizarding world?"

"The last I had heard was that the wizarding world was still at war."

"You have been in contact with Miss Potter all of this time, then?"

"Not exactly, we'd exchanged a handful of letters over the last five months after we parted back at the end of July but they were few and far between as we have both been busy; the most recent letter she sent me was just over two weeks ago. Why? What happened?"

"We don't know what happened," Chairman Netero replied as he frowned down at his desk for a moment. "I had hoped that you would be able to shed some light on the matter."

"I'm confused… why would you think I knew what was going on?"

"We are well aware of your relationship with Miss Potter, young man, and we had hoped that she might have confided in you because of how close the two of you had become during your training with Mizuken. When was the last time you actually spoke to Miss Potter face to face?"

"Not since her birthday, sir; when we went our separate ways."

"I see."

"Can you please tell me what is going on, sir?"

"Seven days ago, I found Miss Potter sprawled on the floor of my infirmary in a state of unconsciousness suffering from a case of severe exhaustion, a mild case of prolonged dehydration, slight malnutrition caused by frequent vomiting, and covered in blood but uninjured aside from a handful of scrapes and bruises," Dr. Mackle answered in place of the Chairman.

"What!? Where is she now? Is she still here?" Kurapika demanded as he jumped to his feet and actually started heading towards the door with the intention of checking on her himself.

"You'll be allowed to see her shortly, young man," Chairman Netero stated calmly. "In the mean time, please sit back down as we are not finished."

"Why can't I see her now?" Kurapika asked as he held his ground by the door.

"There are a few things you need to know before you actually see her," Dr. Mackle ominously replied as he pinned the young hunter with sharp hazel eyes. "Tell me, young man; were you aware that Miss Potter was pregnant when you left her?"

"I didn't leave her, I was forced to watch her walk away," Kurapika automatically corrected even as the blood drained from his face as he registered the rest of the question. His legs collapsed out from under him just seconds later as he hoarsely repeated, "Pregnant…?"

"Yes; pregnant."

"But… but… why didn't she tell me? I swear I didn't know or I would have…" Kurapika started fervently only to stop as he realized exactly why she would have kept something so huge from him. He let out a soft groan two seconds later even as he silently cursed her relatives to the deepest, darkest depths of hell for ruining Azalea's sense of self-worth with the verbal, mental, and emotional abuse they'd heaped upon her.

"I would have dropped everything and returned to her side if I had known that she was pregnant and she knew that," he verbally acknowledged into the weighted silence that clung to the office. "She knew I'd abandon my quest and because she thinks so little of her own needs, she said nothing. That or she thought I'd be angry to learn that she was pregnant."

Kurapika then glanced up sharply at the doctor as he recalled what the man had said about how he'd found Azalea as he demanded, "You said she was unconscious and covered in blood… is… is the baby alright? She didn't lose the baby did she? And what about Azalea? Is she alright?"

"No; both of your sons are alive and well."

"Both…? What do you mean…?"

"Miss Potter is having twins; twin boys to be exact."

"Twins? We're having twins? Two sons? I'm really going to be a father…?" Kurapika wondered out loud as he stared at the doctor with wide eyes, a slightly dopey grin sliding into his face at the thought of having a family with Azalea before it occurred to him that he didn't know the first thing about being a father. The smile fell from his face as he blurted out a frantic, "But I don't know how to be a good father!"

"I doubt any man is truly prepared for the day he first becomes a father," Chairman Netero laughingly stated as he leaned over his desk to study the teen sitting on the floor. "Am I to take your concern over your readiness to accept responsibly for your children as a desire to be involved in your children's lives?"

"Well, yeah; what kind of question is that? I mean, Azalea and I pledged ourselves to one another on her seventeenth birthday and I'm not about to break my promise now; so, of course I want to be there for any children we have."

"And does the young lady in question feel the same?"

"She accepted my ring when I offered it to her and freely promised herself to me," Kurapika replied as he glanced down to his left hand to where the gold band symbolizing the promises he and Azalea had made to one another sat on his ring finger. "Is there a reason why you're giving me the third degree?"

"Miss Potter has no living family that is willing to protect her interests and as a close friend of her great-grandfather, I feel it is my duty to insure that she is properly taken care of as best I can now that she is one of my Hunters. I was more than a little upset to learn that you had taken advantage of the trust that Miss Potter had placed in you after she was attacked."

"I never took advantage of Azalea, I love her. If not for that stupid prophecy, I'd have whisked her away months ago and hidden her away from the wizarding world for good so that they couldn't hurt her again. You have no idea how much it killed me to watch her walk away knowing there was a chance we might never see one another again."

"And what will you do now?"

"I'm going to walk out that door to find my fiancée so that I can make certain she and the babies are fine and then I'm going to kiss her senseless before I inform her that I am never again letter her out of my sight."

"That is acceptable."

"Before you go, kid; there is one more thing you should know," Dr. Mackle interjected before Kurapika finished climbing back onto his feet. "Miss Potter has remained unresponsive since she woke up three days ago; she's not spoken a single word to anyone for any reason. She's not shown any sign that she understands or even hears anything that has been said to her and she has not once acknowledged any of her visitors or even shown that she is aware that someone has been in the room with her at all times."

Kurapika fought back the fear that revelation filled him with as he softly demanded, "Where is she now?"

Ten minutes later, Kurapika stepped into the private hospital room that Azalea had been set up in after she'd been treated on the day she'd unexpectedly been found in the middle of the Infirmary. He silently nodded to Menchi (the Hunter currently watching over the diminutive witch) as his eyes sought and found Azalea leaning against the wall beside the window staring out at the view. Kurapika slowed to a stop and let his eyes take in the changes that had been wrought in the young witch over their months of separation.

The first thing he noticed was that she'd let her hair grow out and the now shoulder length ebony locks had been wrestled into a messy braid. The next thing he noticed was how pale and drawn she appeared; as if she'd been having trouble sleeping again or been suffering from a long drawn out illness. He felt more than a little guilty when he immediately realized that the pregnancy must have been taking a lot out of her on top of the stress of having to fight a war. Kurapika could tell that she'd lost weight as well; easily noticing the faint gauntness in her face as he studied what he could see of her reflection in the window.

His eyes dropped lower with the expectation of seeing the visible evidence of her condition (she was roughly five and a half months pregnant after all) and frowned when he noted that he couldn't tell she was pregnant just by looking.

In fact, she looked much as she had when he first met her; rail thin with her breasts bound flat to hide them. He briefly wondered if he'd been wrong to assume that the babies she carried were his; his mind automatically jumping to the night Hisoka had attacked her and the possibility that the same thing had happened while he'd been unable to protect her. It would explain why she'd said nothing and he knew she hadn't betrayed him because his ring had not shattered.

He discarded that possibility a moment later as he recalled how certain Dr. Mackle had been that he was the father. So, that meant that there had to be another explanation for why she didn't appear to be pregnant. The knowledge that she'd been right in the middle of fighting a war right up until she arrived at the Association's Infirmary led him to believe that she might have found a way to hide her pregnancy in order to protect the babies. It was something he could easily see her doing because her pregnancy would have been an exploitable weakness that he imagined any Death Eater would have used against her in a heartbeat.

Inspection over, Kurapika strode across the remaining distance separating him from Azalea. He stopped behind her and hesitated for a split second before he slipped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest as he buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply.

The rest of the world disappeared as the rightness of holding her in his arms once more hit him and he dropped his face so he could nuzzle her neck as he breathed, "I've missed you so much, my kitten."

* * *

**11-01-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	37. A x Heartfelt x Reunion

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Seven: A x Heartfelt x Reunion

Numbness had latched onto Azalea from the moment she opened her eyes. Time had no meaning inside of that numbness and the young witch was left alone feeling out of sync with the world around her. It was as if a barrier had been placed between her and the rest of the world and nothing and no one could breach that barrier. Sounds were muted, colors were washed out, and she was so cold she couldn't feel anything. She knew something had happened and she knew whatever it was had been important but, for the life of her, she couldn't call up the relevant memories in order to remember what had happened nor could she find the strength to care.

And so she drifted; wrapped in a haze of unfeeling solitude while her thoughts faded in and out as they circled endlessly through her mind. There were times when she thought that maybe she should be more concerned about being trapped as she was but she just couldn't drum up the strength to care. It was far easier to allow the world to pass her by and leave her alone; some part of her clearly remembered the war she'd been fighting and wished to avoid being drawn back into the dark memories that had been trapped outside of the numbness. She never even felt her elves redressing her in her dragon hide shift each time the doctor removed it to check on the babies growing in her womb.

It was therefore something of a surprise when she unexpectedly felt herself engulfed in comforting warmth for the first time in a long time. She instinctively fought against the pull that threatened to drag her out of the protective bubble of numbness as the part of her that wished to avoid reality dug in its heels. She didn't want to return to the aching, empty loneliness that part of her knew waited for her outside of the haze she'd been drifting through.

All resistance ended the moment _his_ soft voice called to her; the only voice she desperately wanted and needed to hear and the only voice she'd never ignore.

"I've missed you so much, my kitten."

"Kura…?" Azalea timidly asked in a voice that cracked and wavered as she closed her eyes against the unexpected explosion of color and light when the barrier separating her from the rest of the world shattered the moment she stopped fighting against reality's pull.

"I'm here, kitten," Kurapika murmured reassuringly; his breath ghosting across Azalea's neck.

"Are you really here…? Is it really you…? Or is this just a dream?"

"I'm really here, kitten, and this is no dream."

"I'm sorry, please don't leave me," Azalea begged as she twisted in his arms, tangled her fingers in his tabard, and buried her face against his shoulder as the memories of the past five months slammed back into her mind in a jumbled mess that left her confused and scared with her fears that Kurapika would hate her for hiding her pregnancy from him rising to the forefront of her mind.

"I won't."

Azalea's legs buckled out from under her as she felt a wave of relief wash through her in that moment and she felt herself swept up into Kurapika's arms before she could fall. She snuggled into his chest and breathed in his scent before giving out a soft hiccuping sob as the tears came; her emotions all mixed up and out of control. Azalea felt Kurapika carry her away from the window before sitting down in a chair and settling her over his lap so that he could cradle her comfortably in his arms as he whispered soft reassurances in her ear while gently rubbing her back until she eventually cried herself to sleep in his arms.

Azalea woke up several hours later feeling disoriented as she opened her eyes to find herself in a rather uncomfortable bed in an unfamiliar room. The feel of another body pressed up against her back and an arm snaked around her stomach only added to the confusion and the fact that she couldn't remember how she'd ended up in her current position or who it was that was in the bed with her. She tensed up and tried to pull away from the arms that held her only to freeze when she heard the sound of an achingly familiar and much missed voice.

"Are you awake again, kitten?"

"Kura…? Is that you?"

"Yes."

"Why are you here? How did you get here? Where are we? What…?"

Kurapika silenced her by reaching up to gently cover her mouth with his hand before he replied, "We are in one of the private rooms attached to the Infirmary inside of the Hunter Association's Headquarters. I arrived by airship yesterday afternoon and I am here because Chairman Netero sent for me not long after you appeared out of the blue in the middle of the Infirmary unconscious and covered in blood; he had thought I might be able to shed some light on how you ended up here and what had happened to you. Unfortunately, I didn't have any answers. Do you have any other questions? Or did I answer them all?"

"How long have I been here?"

"Hmm… a week I believe."

"How badly was I hurt?"

"According to Dr. Mackle, you had nothing worse than scraps and bruises but you were suffering from a case of extreme exhaustion. What is the very last thing you remember?"

"Waking up in your arms…"

"Cheeky brat; seriously, what is the last thing you remember?" Kurapika growled as he gently nipped at the back of her neck before he curled closer to her.

Azalea sighed and closed her eyes as she tried to make sense of her jumbled memories while absently muttering, "The horcruxes had been dealt with… Moony had been bit by Nagini but Dr. Mackle healed him… Remus and Tonks married in secret… Tonks and Fleur were both pregnant and due the same time as…"

Her thoughts faltered the moment she recalled her own pregnancy and she flinched and began hyperventilating as her hands flew to her stomach as she recalled that she still hadn't told Kurapika about the babies. She panicked a bit when she felt only flatness beneath the clothes she wore until she realized she was still wearing the charmed corset beneath her clothes and she took a shaky breath to calm herself. The panic returned when she recalled what Kurapika had told her about being found covered in blood and how she'd been at the Association's Headquarters for a week; a week she couldn't remember.

"What's wrong, kitten?"

"I'm… I wanted to tell you… but I was so scared… and… the blood…"

"Our boys are just fine," Kurapika murmured at that point as he moved his hands over top of hers.

"Our boys…? Wait, how did you…?"

"Dr. Mackle told me about the twins, Zalea."

The witch shivered and swallowed around the knot that formed in the back of her throat before she quietly asked, "Are you angry?"

"No; I'm just a little overwhelmed and feeling more than a little guilty and regretful that I wasn't there for you all this time. I wish you had told me after you first found out but I'm not angry."

"I… I was afraid you'd be angry with me; I don't even know if you like or want children."

"I never gave much thought to starting a family before I met you because I was far more focused on avenging my clan," Kurapika softly explained as he nestled his chin on Azalea's collar bone while he threaded his fingers through hers over her stomach. "I never pictured any children in my future; not because I didn't want or like children but because I never really believed that I would have a life beyond destroying the Spider and reclaiming my clan's stolen eyes. I am having a hard time picturing myself as a father but the idea of being a father is not an unpleasant one. What about you? Are you angry?"

"No, just stressed I think. I worried about everything… about you being angry, about losing the babies, about someone in the wizarding world finding out, about what I was going to do when they were born, about… about everything. You're sure they're alright…? And boys? Why did you say boys? They could be girls, you know."

"Dr. Mackle assured me that both boys were fine and that they were indeed boys according to the ultrasound he took the moment he discovered you were pregnant shortly after he found you. Both Dr. Mackle and Chairman Netero took me to task for taking advantage of you and leaving you alone to deal with the pregnancy as well."

"I'll hex them in tender places for it later," Azalea growled as she pulled her hands free and rolled over so she could rest her head on Kurapika's chest while the blond chuckled softly in response to her declaration.

"Now that we've cleared that up; what else do you remember after learning the other two witches were pregnant?"

"I remember waiting for the Dark Lord to make his next move," Azalea quietly stated as she absently traced the gold lines on Kurapika's tabard with her fingers. "And I remember Bill and Charlie bringing me the last of the Scarlet Eyes that had ended up in the wizarding world… your cryptic note after I sent you all twenty pairs… wondering and worrying if you were angry with me for not telling you that I had found them until after I collected them… reading, researching, studying, and hunting for more information… and then… and then the Order received word that _he_ had been spotted on the grounds of Hogwarts…"

"He…? Are you talking about Vol…?"

"Don't say it! It's Taboo!" Azalea cried fearfully as her hands flew up to cover Kurapika's mouth while her entire body trembled; the witch completely forgetting that the taboo had been rescinded over two months ago. "They'll hear you and they'll come… and… they'll see you and then they'll… they'll… they would… it would kill me if they hurt you. Please, promise me you won't ever say his name!"

"I promise, kitten," Kurapika offered sincerely as he pulled her hands away from his mouth before gently kissing her palms. "I won't even think his name for now on." Azalea closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath as she slowly relaxed once more as Kurapika released her hands and pulled her back against him. After several minutes, the blond prompted, "You said he was seen at Hogwarts…?"

"Yes, he'd gone to raid Professor Dumbledore's tomb; Professor McGonagall saw him crossing the grounds and she'd contacted us immediately. The moment we showed up, he called the last of his Death Eaters. I faced him alone while the others dealt with the Death Eaters…"

Kurapika jerked in response to that revelation and growled low in his throat and Azalea fell silent as she waited for him to yell at her about endangering the babies. When it became obvious that he wasn't going to say anything, she tentatively tried to justify her choice in fighting that day as her memories became clearer in her mind, "I know it was stupid of me but I also knew I might never get another chance. I knew it would only be a matter of time before he figured out that we'd been hunting and destroying his horcruxes and I couldn't risk him going to ground for another ten or twenty years in order to rebuild his army or take the chance that he might make another horcrux to replace the ones we destroyed. I had to end it."

"And you let the prophecy drive you," Kurapika gruffly stated as he relaxed his hold a bit as he buried his nose in her hair and ran his hands up and down her back as she shivered in his arms. "What happened next…? Did you finish the fight or did one of you retreat?"

"It's over," Azalea quietly stated.

"Zalea…?"

"I fought with everything I had; I held nothing back. He tried to cut me in half with a high powered cutting curse that was deflected by my dueling cloak, my dragon hide vest, the dragon hide corset that I made to protect and hide the babies, and the Nen shroud I had wrapped myself in and I snapped."

"You killed him?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? If you don't know, then why did you say it was over?"

"He's dead but I don't know if I killed him. I stupidly Flash-Stepped right in front of him as he cast the Killing Curse and I'm pretty certain it struck me but I vaguely recall it being reflected back on him. He was hit by his own curse at the same time as I stabbed him through the heart with one bokken while I shoved the other one into his brain. So, I don't know if I killed him or if he killed himself."

Azalea began shaking at that point as the enormity of everything she'd done over the past five and half months came back to haunt her and she pushed away from Kurapika as she scrambled for the edge of the bed as she emptied out her stomach. She flinched when she felt a hand touch her back and might have bolted off the bed if not for the second hand that came up to hold her steady. Once she finished emptying what little she had in her stomach, Azalea wearily collapsed on the bed and buried her face against the mattress as the tears came again.

Gentle hands pulled her back away from the edge of the bed and the witch soon found herself cradled in Kurapika's arms once more as he stroked her hair. Once the flood stopped, Azalea drifted off to sleep again because her emotional turmoil had drained what little strength she currently had; her body still not fully recovered from the battle due to the pregnancy sapping most of her strength. Kurapika woke her up a few hours later and carried her to the bathroom so that she could empty her bladder, brush her teeth, and take a shower.

She felt a little lost when Kurapika didn't follow her into the bathroom but she was distracted from her insecurities when Minky appeared with a change of clothes and her toiletries. The little female elf gave her a critical once over and hugged her tight before preparing the shower for her while Azalea used the toilet and brushed her mouth to get rid of the rancid taste in her mouth from when she'd thrown up earlier. Azalea stepped beneath the warm water five minutes later and sighed as the water washed away the invisible layer of filth that had been clinging to her since the day of the battle.

Her hands automatically sought out her belly and it wasn't until she felt the faint shifting of the growing babies that she allowed the last of her worries that they might have been harmed to fade. Dr. Mackle's second hand assurances through Kurapika had helped but the physical proof moving beneath her fingers could not be forged. Sighing with more than a little relief, Azalea grabbed the bar of soap and began washing herself; paying extra special attention to her distended stomach while her thoughts dwelled on those growing inside of her.

After she finished cleaning herself and washing her hair, Azalea simply allowed the water to slide over her skin as she leaned against the shower wall and closed her eyes. Her earlier ambivalence and numbness returned as more of her memories settled back into place and she struggled to come to terms with the fact that Voldemort was well and truly gone. Part of her didn't quite believe that he had been defeated; she'd fought him at least five times, after all, and he'd always managed to escape before death could claim him.

Well no, that wasn't quite true; his shade had been destroyed at the end of her second year and she'd been the one to flee from the graveyard at the end of her fourth. But that still left him fleeing at the end of her first and fifth years in addition to whatever it was that had been done to him on that Halloween night when he'd first tried to kill her after he'd murdered both of her parents. The biggest fear that Azalea had though was the possibility that she and the others had missed one of Voldemort's horcruxes; after all, they had no solid proof on how many the man had made.

A knock at the door pulled Azalea out of her contemplation as Kurapika's muffled voice called out, "Are you almost finished, kitten?"

"Yes, I'll be out in a couple of minutes," Azalea called back as she shut off the water and collected the warm towel that appeared above her head at the same moment courtesy of a diligent Minky.

Her clothes had been similarly warmed and Azalea murmured a soft thank you to the elf as she slipped into her freshly cleaned dragon hide corset out of longstanding habit before pulling on her pants and a clean shirt. Her hair was dealt with next as she dried it with a simple charm before loosely tying it back at the nape of her neck in order to keep it out of her face. She then marshaled her courage and exited the bathroom.

"Feel better, love?" Kurapika asked softly from where he was leaning against the wall right beside the bathroom.

"Mostly," Azalea replied as she glanced up to meet her lover's eyes for the first time since he'd pulled her from her numbness. She frowned when she immediately noted that the color of his eyes were off; the irises near black instead of their usual chocolate brown. "Why are your eyes so dark?"

"I've been wearing black contacts since I left the forest in order to hide my eyes. Are you feeling up to eating a late breakfast?"

"No, but I will eat a little something anyway."

"Morning sickness?"

"If only; it's been more of an all day and all night sickness since about mid-October," Azalea groused as she scowled down at the floor. Kurapika frowned in concern as he pushed away from the wall to sweep her up into his arms before carrying her back towards the freshly made bed on the other side of the room. Azalea jumped a bit at the unexpectedness of being picked up before she snuggled against his chest at the same time as she dryly commented, "I can walk, you know."

"Don't care," Kurapika quipped in return with a soft laugh; both of them recalling a similar exchange they'd had back near the end of the Fourth Phase.

"Bossy blond."

Kurapika just laughed a second time as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before he settled her on the bed and pulled the covers up around her. He then settled a breakfast tray holding a cup of green tea, a bowl of sliced pears and peaches, and a small plate of toast over her lap before he perched himself on the edge of the bed. Minky popped in a second later to deliver the vial holding her usual morning nutritional potion before she vanished once more.

"Who was that and what is in the bottle?"

"That was Minky; she's one of the two new elves that I ended up bonding with back in September; I'll introduce you to her and Tanker later. The vial holds my morning dose of vitamins, minerals, and protein; a nasty little potion that tastes like moldy bread and liverwurst but it's the only way I'm able to get the vitamins and minerals I need for the babies because there are so few foods I can hold down."

"Does that mean you've been seeing a doctor regularly?"

"Not exactly… Minky is a nanny elf and she's been keeping an eye on my health and the health of the babies. Madam Pomfrey has seen me a couple of times and done the usual scans to make certain that nothing was wrong but it was too risky for me to have regular visits with any healer. The only reason I even saw Madam Pomfrey was because Remus and the twins tattled on me when I had her brought to Headquarters to heal Mr. Ollivander after we rescued him from Malfoy Manor. She was the only person I ever told about the babies and that was only after I made her swear on her Healer's Oath that she wouldn't tell anyone else. I couldn't risk the wrong people finding out about the babies."

"How did Remus and the twins know to tattle on you? Did they know you were pregnant?"

"No, no one else knows I'm pregnant… well I guess Dr. Mackle knows now and he undoubtedly told Chairman Netero since you said they spoke to you yesterday and they told you… but aside from that, unless they told the other Hunters, then there is no one else who knows. Well, all four of my elves know because they've been taking care of me and it was Minky who informed me that I was pregnant in the first place but I didn't tell anyone in the Order about the twins. Only Remus and Fleur ever even figured out that you and I had… that we'd been lovers; though I think Fred, George, and Bill all suspect. But anyway, the twins and Remus had tattled on me after we raided Malfoy Manor because I'd been sick and sleeping poorly and thought it was just the guilt getting to me…"

"You're babbling, kitten," Kurapika pointed out with a soft laugh as he picked up the fork and speared a piece of peach that he promptly stuffed into her mouth to cut her off in the middle of her sentence.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to…" Azalea tried to explain after she'd swallowed only for Kurapika to stop her with a pear this time.

"You don't need to apologize and I know what you were trying to do; now, shush and eat."

"Pushy prat," Azalea grumbled as she snagged a piece of toast to nibble on.

Kurapika simply flashed her a cheeky grin in response and Azalea snorted and shook her head as an answering smile played about her lips before her expression grew pensive. Her eyes turned troubled as she intently searched Kurapika's face for a moment before she dropped her gaze to the piece of toast in her hand as she began ripping it into shreds while her thoughts returned to her darker memories. A pair of hands reaching out to still her fingers startled the witch and she glanced up to find Kurapika watching her with concern.

"What's wrong, love?"

"I don't want you to hate me."

"There is nothing you could do to make me hate you."

"I killed them… hundred of them; men, women, and teenagers that I'd gone to school with. I never gave any of them a chance and their blood is on my hands."

"Did you enjoy killing them?"

"No…"

"Did you kill them for sport?"

"No…"

"Did you torture them before you killed them?"

"No…"

"Then you did nothing wrong."

"But…"

"No buts… you and I both know that there was a reason why you felt they had to die or you would not have taken the steps you did."

"I know that but that doesn't change the fact that it was my hand that killed them. What right did I have to judge them?"

"Maybe none… but what right did they have to torment and terrorize an entire society? How many of those you killed were true innocents?"

"None… all but small handful bore the Dark Mark; and those that didn't were associates of Death Eaters that supported the pureblood agenda from the shadows or were active Flesh Collectors that helped fund the Dark Lord in exchange for human trophies; such as the Scarlet Eyes. All of them had done some pretty despicable things since Voldemort's return and they'd done those things willingly and in most cases eagerly."

"Then you have nothing to be ashamed of, Azalea," Kurapika insisted as he shifted the tray of food off of her lap before he slipped beneath the covers to gather her in his arms. "You did what you had to do to end the war and you took no joy in taking the lives of your enemies. I will not hate you for fighting for what you believe in and I will not hold any of the actions you took while fighting for you life and for the lives of those around you against you. I love you, Azalea; and nothing is ever going to change that."

Azalea curled into his arms as she took a shaky breath in order to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. As she breathed in Kurapika's familiar scent and felt the warmth of his body pressing close to her, the memories of their last night together rose up from the depths of her mind. The knowledge that Kurapika was here, in her arms, after five and a half long months filled with a countless string of lonely nights washed through her in that moment and she soon found herself swept up on a wave of desire.

Her hands reached up to tangle themselves in Kurapika's tabard as she pulled back just far enough so that she could lean forward to kiss him. The moment their lips touched, everything else disappeared as she reveled in the feel of his mouth against hers. She moaned softly as Kurapika deepened their kiss a heartbeat later while his hands shifted lower to cup her bum as he pulled her flush against him. Desire pooled between her legs as she felt his hard length pressing against her thigh and she slid her hands beneath his tabard to tug at his shirt; she wanted to feel his bare skin beneath her fingers.

She let out a soft whine when Kurapika briefly broke their kiss so that he could pull the short tabard over his head and the blond chuckled in response before he began brushing a series of teasing kisses across her face. She growled at him before reaching up to thread her fingers through his hair in order to hold him still long enough to claim his mouth once more. Kurapika gave a soft chuckle that turned into a moan a moment later when she shifted her leg so that her thigh rubbed against him. Azalea's hands released his hair at that point and shifted back down to search for non-existent buttons on his shirt before she simply pulled the shirt free from where it had been tucked into his pants.

The moment the hem of the shirt slipped free of his pants (pulling his undershirt free at the same time), Azalea's hands slipped beneath both shirts. Her hands were then running over his bare stomach as she let out a soft humming purr that was half growl. Kurapika broke their kiss to nip his way down to the base of her throat as his left hand reached up to start unbuttoning her shirt in return and Azalea let out a breathy moan and lightly dragged her fingernails across his skin as her hands slid around to his back. His hands were then tugging her tank top free of her pants before sliding beneath her shirt before he pulled back in surprise as his hands encountered the supple leather-like dragon hide corset that covered her from bust line to the top of her thighs.

Then he was kissing her once more as he let his hands explore the full extent of the corset. When his hands discovered that it continued well under the waistline of her pants, his hands moved around to unbutton her pants so that he could continue the inspection. His hands were then pushing her pants out of the way and Azalea moaned the moment his fingers reached the bare skin of her thighs before they slipped beneath the edge of her corset to cup her bum through the bikini cut, silk knickers she was wearing. Just as his thumbs were shifting to slide beneath the fabric of her knickers, their activities were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Azalea flinched, badly, and reacted quite violently due to the high level of paranoia she'd developed over the past five months as a soldier in a rather violent (and magical) war. The moment she registered the presence of another, she jerked back out of Kurapika's arms, blindly cast a wandless Banishing Charm followed by a low powered Blasting Curse, and twisted around to free her wand with the intention of following up her first attack. Kurapika stopped her by firmly wrapping his arms around her and grabbing her wrists as he rolled them over so that his body was now between Azalea and her intended target.

"Calm down, kitten; no one here is going to attack you," Kurapika instructed softly into her ear as she struggled against his hold. "You are safe here."

Azalea let out a soft whine as she stopped fighting Kurapika and struggled to bring her breathing back under control; her entire body trembling beneath the flood of adrenalin that had swept through her the moment she thought they were being attacked. Kurapika's iron grip relaxed once it was clear she wasn't going to immediately attack again before his hands were tugging at her wand. Her grip on the wand tightened and she jerked her hand back out of the way in order to prevent it from being taken from her against her will; part of her mind fully aware that the wand would abandon her the moment it was won from her (regardless of who took it from her by force).

"Let go of your wand, kitten."

"No; I'll put it away but no one is going to take this wand from me," Azalea bluntly refused as her left hand joined her right in protecting her wand. "Not even you, Kurapika."

"I wasn't planning on keeping it from you forever; I just wanted to make certain you weren't going to attack again."

"It doesn't matter why you wanted to take it; I will allow no one to take it from me. It's far too dangerous to let it fall into another's hand."

"It's just a wand, kitten."

"No, it's not just a wand," Azalea whispered as she glanced up to meet Kurapika's confused eyes with intense emeralds that swirled with golden dust motes as she returned the focus in question back to her left sleeve.

"Well, I must say that was not quite the greeting I expected from you," Chairman Netero interjected dryly at that point.

Azalea let out a groan of mortification as she put two and two together to reach the conclusion that Netero had been the one to interrupt them just now; meaning that she'd attacked the Chairman in her panic filled haze. She then buried her head against Kurapika's chest when she remembered exactly what she and Kurapika had been doing when the man had interrupted them. Her thoughts then leapt to the memory of Kurapika's earlier comment about the Chairman having accused Kurapika of taking advantage of her and she growled deep in her chest as she sat up to glare at the man with near solid gold eyes.

"I owe you a right good hexing anyway, you dense old brick wall!" Azalea snapped as she fought back her blush when she saw the other three people standing in the room with the Chairman alongside the damage that her wandless Blasting Curse had done to half of the room. All three Hunters sniggered at the insult she'd flung at Netero while Netero gaped at her in shock. "How dare you accuse Kurapika of taking advantage of me!? Don't think I won't hex you in tender and unmentionable places for thinking such things about my Kura! And I am fully capable of taking care of myself; I don't need anyone jumping in to defend my virtue."

"I should have known one of Greg's brood would use that nickname even without his influence," Chairman Netero complained as he pouted at Azalea.

"Actually, Papa Greg only thought it only fair that he tell me your nickname after you gave me his," Azalea cheekily informed the older man. "And, he told me that if he could, he would hex you from beyond the grave for giving me his old license with that nickname on it."

"Didn't I tell you the little firecracker was a cheeky little brat?" Mizuken inquired with a laugh while Dr. Mackle and Satotz both tried to hide their merriment as the older Hunter glowered at all of them.

"Hmpf, I already knew that," Chairman Netero groused grumpily but Azalea could clearly see the amusement in his eyes. The man then grew serious as he inspected Azalea intently from where she was still half wrapped in Kurapika's protective embrace. He then smiled warmly as he stated, "It is good to see you feeling yourself once again, young lady."

"What do you mean?" Azalea asked as she frowned at the man.

"You'd been completely unresponsive after waking up, kid," Dr. Mackle explained as he crossed the room. "That was four days ago now."

"Oh."

"Are you in any pain? Are you suffering from any discomfort? How is your stomach feeling this morning? Were you able to keep your breakfast down?"

"I'm fine."

"And the reason you didn't finish your breakfast?"

"I got a little distracted."

"I can and will bar the young man from your room if he's going to interfere with your meals," Dr. Mackle stated as he scowled at Kurapika.

"And I can and will turn you into a bedpan and deliver you to an overcrowded nursing home where you'd be in very high demand."

"Now that is a seriously cruel threat," Mizuken stated with a smirk.

"She does seem to have picked up a small sadistic streak to go hand in hand with her destructive tendencies. I guess that means she must have spent far too much time in your presence, Mizuken," Satotz innocently stated around a chuckle as he glanced over his shoulder at the pile of debris that had been blasted across the room by her two spells.

"You startled me," Azalea stated meekly as she pulled her wand back out and flicked it at the mess in order to repair the damage done and return everything to its rightful place. She then put away the wand and curled back into Kurapika's chest as shame washed through her over her overreaction to being snuck up on. "I don't like people sneaking up on me."

"I apologize for startling you but I thought it best that you not continue the… show the two of you were providing when it became obvious that neither of you had noticed us entering the room," Chairman Netero pointed out.

"You could have turned around and left," Kurapika muttered and Azalea snorted out a soft giggle at the slightly petulant tone he'd used even as she silently agreed with him.

"Under normal circumstances, I would have gladly left you to your personal pursuits; however, there are things I need to discuss with Miss Potter in regards to the magical war she'd been fighting in over the course of the last five and a half months."

"He's dead; the war should be over," Azalea quietly stated as she sat up; completely forgetting about the current state of disarray her clothes were in. "I have no idea what happened after the final battle though because I fell unconscious as Fawkes flashed me away from Hogwarts." She paused and bit her lip as she glanced between Kurapika and Chairman Netero before adding, "Everyone is probably panicking over my disappearance if I've really been here an entire week; since they would have expected Fawkes to take me back to the Order's Headquarters or to the Hospital Wing of the school. I should go… I don't know if the elves would have told them where I was or even let them know what happened to me and they'll all be worried sick."

"You're not going anywhere without me, kitten," Kurapika stated in a tone that brooked no argument as he reached out to snag hold of her right hand. "I'm not letting you leave me again."

"Kura…"

"My coming with you is not up for negotiation."

"Kura…"

"No. No arguments, Azalea."

"You're an annoyingly bossy blond."

"Someone has to keep you in line."

"Don't make me use you as a scratching post again."

"Should you be flirting with me in front of the Chairman?"

"Do the words Stinging Hex ring any bells?"

"Promises, promises; no one likes a tease, kitten."

"Bill taught me a particularly painful castration hex…"

All five of the males in the room winced and shifted uncomfortably over that last casual threat that had been delivered in a sugar sweet tone. The older men did chuckle a bit though when it became obvious that the threat had successfully put an end to the blond's fond teasing.

"All joking aside, kitten, I'm not letting you go back alone."

"Fine, but you damn well better follow my orders while you're in the magical world because if you get hurt trying to pull a stupid stunt after I tell you to run and hide, I will be angry."

"Now who's being bossy?"

"Kura…"

"Don't get your tail in a knot, kitten, I'm not planning on doing anything stupid."

"Good."

"When will the two of you be leaving and when can I expect you to report back to me on the current state of Magical Britain?" Chairman Netero inquired as he tried to hide his amusement over their little exchange.

"No one is going any where until a certain young lady finishes her breakfast," Dr. Mackle interjected sternly as he plucked the bowl of fruit off of the discarded tray and dropped it into Azalea's hands.

"I'll send Dobby with a message letting you know when you can expect me…" Azalea started only to cut herself off and jump in surprise when Kurapika lightly pinched her thigh. "Sorry… when you can expect _us_ back once I find out what is going on."

"We'll leave you to your meal then," Chairman Netero stated as he signaled the others to leave. "Do be careful, young lady, and you had better behave yourself, young man."

"He was behaving quite wonderfully until you interrupted us," Azalea muttered under her breath as she picked up a pear slice and took a bite of it as she watched the four older Hunters file out of the room.

Kurapika laughed at her comment as he sat up and shifted her onto his lap before he stole the bowl of fruit out of her hands. The two of them then spent the next hour feeding each other slices of peaches and pears from out of the bowl that had a never ending supply of fruit (her elves sneakily refilled it repeatedly to make certain both of the teens ate their fill) in between stealing kisses. When she could eat no more, Azalea choked down the nutrition potion before regretfully straightening up her clothes when she finally realized her shirt and pants were still undone.

While she was doing that, Kurapika slipped off to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

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**11-01-15:** _Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	38. Long x Overdue x Introductions

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Thirty-Eight: Long x Overdue x Introductions

Azalea pulled on her graphorn cloak, which she'd found piled in a chair alongside her invisibility cloak while she was waiting for Kurapika, and took a moment to button the dueling cloak because she was feeling uncertain and on edge. A second cloak was laying across the bed for Kurapika; the witch had asked Dobby to fetch the extra cloak for her when she'd asked the elf to locate the invisibility cloak because she was unwilling to leave her lover unprotected. When the bathroom door opened a minute later, Azalea glanced up from her hands to watch Kurapika walk back into the room.

A small frown creased her brow as she finally realized he was wearing a different tabard than the one she remembered him wearing previously and she promptly asked, "When did you change your tabard, Kura? And why?"

"The color and designs on the Kurta tabards denote our age, rank, and status," Kurapika explained after he glanced down at the blue and gold tabard and kilt he was wearing. "The red and blue knee length tabard I wore when we first met was a training tabard and marked me as an adolescent."

"The short tabard and long kilt I wear now is what all adults usually wear and the pattern indicates my rank as the Head of the Clan since I am the oldest surviving member of the clan. When our sons are born, they will be entitled to wear similar blue and gold tabards and kilts to signify their status as my heirs until they are old enough to begin their training; at which time they'd be given red and blue training tabards similar to the one I used to wear."

"Oh, why didn't you change your tunic after your eighteenth birthday then?"

"Because I was still training at the time. Are you ready to go?"

"Ah, I guess that makes sense," Azalea replied as she tossed the extra graphorn cloak to Kurapika. "We go no where until you put that on and you are not to take it off unless I tell you it is safe to do so."

"How are we getting there?" Kurapika asked as he pulled the dueling cloak on overtop of his tabard without a word of complaint.

"I will ask Fawkes to take us since his presence will reduce the chances of us coming under friendly fire the moment we appear," Azalea replied as she walked up to Kurapika in order to adjust the cloak so that it sat properly before she began buttoning the front of them. "Kura, I'd really rather not…"

"I'm not letting you walk away from me again, Azalea."

"I never wanted to share you with the wizarding world. Only a handful of trusted friends even know you exist and out of all of them only one has ever heard your name. I never spoke of you because I never wanted anyone to hurt you in order to hurt me."

"I am not made of glass, kitten; I can and will protect myself if any one attacks me. I also won't hesitate to protect you if the need arises," Kurapika gently reminded Azalea as he collected her hands in his before he tilted her face up so that he could kiss her gently on the lips. "You don't have to hide me away on a shelf and lock me up to protect me. Just like I know I don't have to lock you away and throw away the key to keep you safe."

"I know that… but wizards don't play fair."

"Neither did the Spider."

"There are only ever thirteen members of the Phantom Troupe at any given time while there are thousands of witches and wizards out there and there are still hundreds of them that consider muggles as beneath them and dozens of them see muggles as being less than human. I can't stand the thought of any of them verbally or magically attacking you."

"Prejudices run deep in any society and a few spoken insults aren't going to hurt me."

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I won't crack a few heads if I catch any one insulting you."

"Now that should be entertaining. Where are you hiding your bokken anyway? I didn't see them earlier."

"I don't know what happened to them; the last time I saw them they were still buried inside of the Dark Lord's body. I'm thinking I might just be better off making me a new pair anyway; I don't like the idea of carrying around a set of bloodstained swords any more."

"We'll go hunting for a couple of nice sturdy branches once you've finished assessing the current state of the wizarding world then."

"Going camping with you in the middle of the forest again sounds rather like a nice vacation," Azalea murmured as she freed her hands so she could finish buttoning Kurapika's cloak.

She then pulled out her wand and held it loosely in her right hand while she lifted her left arm up into the air as she called for Fawkes. The phoenix appeared in the room above her with a flash of flames before he burst into song and circled around the two of them. He gently landed on Azalea's outstretched arm the moment his song finished; the phoenix preening himself smugly as his eyes danced between Azalea and Kurapika.

"Hello again, Fawkes," Kurapika greeted as he reached out to scratch the back of Fawkes's head. "You have my eternal gratitude for watching over my troublesome kitten for me while I could not be by her side."

"Prat," Azalea huffed with fond exasperation. "Will you please take both of us to Headquarters, Fawkes?"

The phoenix bobbed his head in agreement as he launched himself back up into the air above their heads. Kurapika stepped forward at that point and wrapped his right arm around Azalea's waist while he pulled his bokken free with his left hand so as not to be caught off guard by an attack. Azalea leaned back against him and held her right arm loosely at her side as she reached up to grab hold of Fawkes's tail feathers with her left hand. The two of them were engulfed in a swirl of flames a heartbeat later as the phoenix whisked them off to London.

They reappeared in the corner of the War Room where the nine people that made up Azalea's most trusted friends were currently arguing. Their appearance broke up the argument and nine wands were soon trained in their direction due to their unexpected arrival. Azalea shielded herself and Kurapika while making certain that her body was between her non-magical lover and the glowing tips of those nine wands. Fawkes immediately trilled out a calming melody that soon had everyone relaxing marginally as they finally got a good look at who it was that had appeared in the middle of the Order's Headquarters unannounced and eight wand tips went dark as their owners tucked them away.

"Merlin's bloody balls, Azalea!" Fred exclaimed crassly as he focused his attention on the dainty witch.

"A little warning would be nice the next time you plan to vanish off the face of the earth," George added with a scowl.

"Who's your friend?" Moody demanded as he kept his wand steadily pointed at the pair.

"Mad-Eye, if you don't put your wand away by the time I count to five, I'm going to hex you in tender places before transfiguring your glass eye into a square block of wood full of splinters while you are still wearing it," Azalea growled as she dropped the shield she was holding and prepared to follow through on her threat. "One… two…"

"Alright, don't get your knickers in a knot, lass," the scarred ex-auror grumbled as he hastily tucked his wand away as ordered and made certain that his hands both remained visible and out of reach of said wand.

"Does ze presence of ze young man behind you mean zat you stopped being so pigheaded about torturing yourself needlessly and zat you at least spent ze last week making up for lost time, mon cher?" Fleur suggestively asked as she noted how close the pair was standing and the way Kurapika's arm remained protectively wrapped around Azalea's stomach.

"Behave, Fleur, I'm not above ordering my elves to withhold the strawberries, chocolate, and whip cream you are so fond of if you irritate me," Azalea snapped as her face flushed bright red. "And I don't remember anything from the last week; seeing as how I spent half of it unconscious and the other half in a complete fog of numbness."

"How badly were you wounded during the battle?" Remus asked as he crossed the room to get a better look at Azalea and a closer look at the young man behind her. "And is this young man who I think he is?"

"Ah! Did our little brunette sister finally…" George started as he finally turned his attention to the blond behind Azalea.

"…drag her mysterious beau home for us to meet?" Fred finished asking as he grinned at the new arrivals.

"He does match the rather cryptic description she gave us…" George pointed out.

"And she's not hexing him stupid for standing so close…" Fred added with a grin.

"I guess that means we must be right!" both twins declared in stereo.

"I guess dis means ve call off the search, ja?" Viktor asked as he leaned back against the conference table and studied Kurapika intently.

"Where the hell have you been?" Bill demanded as he scowled at the witch. "We've been worried sick! You know better than to disappear after a battle like that!"

"I didn't do it on purpose, Fawkes whisked me away as I fell unconscious after the Dark Lord fell and he took me where he felt I needed to go," Azalea answered with a frown. "And I was mostly just exhausted, I think, at least that's what I was told. Why didn't you guys just ask one of the elves if they knew where I was and if I was alright?"

"The elves made themselves scarce the moment we returned from Hogwarts," Remus explained as he tugged Azalea free of Kurapika's hold once he'd finished his visual inspection so he could hug her. "They also didn't answer our calls so we couldn't ask them."

"Fawkes and Hedwig were both conspicuously absent since about the same time," Bill added. "And are you ever going to introduce your friend?"

Azalea sighed as she stepped out of Remus's arms and half turned to glance at Kurapika who was casually studying the various magicals in the room while absently fingering his bokken. She then tucked her wand away now that she knew there would be no hexes flying about the room any time soon and grabbed him by the sleeve of his borrowed cloak so she could pull him up to stand on her right side.

"You can put your bokken away now, Kura," Azalea softly instructed as she threaded her right arm through his left arm as she turned back to face the rest of the room. She waited until he tucked his swords away beneath his cloak before she began the introductions, "Everyone, this is Kurapika. Kura, this is old man beside me is Remus Lupin and the witch over there with the pink hair is his wife, Mrs. I-Hate-My-First-Name Tonks-Lupin. Next, the interchangeable book ends are Fred and George Weasley but don't ask me to tell you who's who. If all else fails, they'll both answer to either name."

"The short redhead hiding in the back is Charlie Weasley, one of Fred and George's older brothers. The last redhead in the room who is currently scowling at me is Bill Weasley, Fred and George's oldest brother, and the insolent blonde is his wife, Fleur Weasley. The twitchy old bugger sulking off to one side is Alastor Moody though most of us call him Mad-Eye because he's completely bonkers, and lastly, the gentleman leaning against the table is Viktor Krum."

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you at last; Azalea often spoke of you during our training and in the letters we exchanged over the past several months," Kurapika stated as he bowed shallowly to the group.

"It's nice to finally have a name to go with the cryptic description she gave us of you," George replied as he stepped forward to shake Kurapika's hand.

"I'd say she spoke fondly of you in return but getting her to talk about you was like pulling teeth from a flobberworm," Fred added as he pulled his brother out of the way so he could shake Kurapika's hand next.

"Flobberworms don't have teeth you dolt," George grumbled as he slapped his brother upside the back of the head.

"I know that, you berk! I was merely expressing how impossible it was to get our girl to talk about her beau!"

"Can you blame her for protecting him from the two of you?" Bill dryly asked as he slapped both twins upside the back of the head before pulling them out of his way. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kurapika; Azalea never brought up your name but on the rare occasions when she did speak of you, it was always with great fondness."

"I trust you will be sticking around, monsieur?" Fleur imperiously inquired as she offered her right hand to Kurapika as she stepped beside her husband.

"Absolutely," Kurapika replied without any hesitation. "There is no place I'd rather be than by Azalea's side."

"I zought as much and I am happy zat I did not misread your feelings for our petite chaton," Fleur stated smugly as she flashed a knowing look at Azalea before leading her husband off.

"You are a lucky man to have caught Azalea's attention," Viktor declared as he shook Kurapika's hand next. "Many before you have tried to catch her eye but all of them failed to do more than earn a proper hexing for their trouble."

"As I recall, you were quite happy when those I was hexing were part of your fan-club," Azalea dryly pointed out.

"True, but it was far more amusing to vatch you hex your own fan-club."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Mr. Krum; I've found there is nothing more entertaining than watching Zalea hex another when they insert their foot into their mouth."

"Call me Viktor; ven I hear my last name I start looking for reporters and fans to hex."

"Viktor it is; I would rather not be hexed if I can help it," Kurapika readily agreed which drew a laugh from the Bulgarian as he backed out of the way to make room for the rest of the group to step forward.

"I couldn't help but notice that you've a pair of them fancy wooden pig-stickers just like the set Miss Potter has taken to swinging about; does that mean that you are the one that taught her how to wield them?" Moody demanded as he stomped up to stand beside Remus once Viktor had moved back.

"Yes."

"Do you use your swords as a focus as well or are you hiding your wand elsewhere?"

"I'm not a wizard, Mr. Moody," Kurapika corrected as he tried not to stare at the magical eye that was giving him a once over while the man's normal eye focused on Kurapika's face.

"A muggle then? I can understand why the lass avoided drawing attention to her relationship with you then; that was right sensible decision on her part, given the recent war."

"Yes, Mad-Eye… we know; constant vigilance," Tonks interjected as she joined the group next. "Personally, I think Azalea just didn't want to share him with anyone because of his good looks."

"Are you regretting marrying this old wolf now?" Remus asked his wife teasingly as he reached out with lightning fast reflexes to prevent Tonks from landing on her face as she tripped over a non-existent wrinkle in the rug beneath her feet.

"Please, after all the effort I put into catching and training you over the last two and a half years?"

"She's got you there, Moony," Azalea snickered as she recalled how the older wizard had avoided Tonks any time both of them had been in the house back before and during her fifth year.

"No one asked the peanut gallery," Remus groused as he reached out to tweak her ponytail.

"So what do you do for a living, Mister… what is your last name, anyway?"

"Just call me Kurapika, Mrs. Lupin; and I am a Hunter."

"What exactly is it that Hunters hunt?" Tonks asked curiously.

"It depends on the individual; I'm a Blacklist Hunter, a Bounty Hunter of sorts that hunts down dangerous criminals. I've met other Blacklist Hunters, Gourmet Hunters, Beast Hunters, Archaeological Hunters, Music Hunters, and one rather stubborn Dark Wizard Hunter. I've also met Hunters that are bodyguards, doctors, secretaries, artists, criminals, thieves, and assassins."

"So, you're the equivalent of an Auror," Moody stated as he stood up a bit straighter and gave Kurapika another once over. "Are you any good? Have you caught anyone yet?"

"I'd like to think I'm adequate and yes, I've caught three of my targets; two of them are dead and one of them has been neutralized."

"Oh? What would you rate their level of threat as?"

"Each and every one of his targets are at _least_ three times more dangerous than Voldemort ever was at his strongest and five times more powerful than Dumbledore was at any point in his life," Azalea quietly answered in Kurapika's stead as she leaned into the blond and digested the fact that he'd encountered the Spider and not said anything to her about them; then again, she hadn't exactly asked him about what he'd been up to since they parted ways back on her birthday. And it wasn't as if she hadn't been keeping secrets of her own from him.

All nine of the witches and wizards in the room gave the unassuming blond another assessing look as they reevaluated their opinion of the teen. They'd known he had to be an exceptional young man to have captured Azalea's heart as the petite witch's interest was notoriously hard to gain (she had been courted by a steady stream of wizards from all walks of life since she turned thirteen, after all) but they hadn't expected him to be powerful enough to face dangerous criminals that were purportedly stronger than Voldemort and Dumbledore.

"Are you trying to tell me that there are muggles out there that are far worse than Voldemort and more powerful than Dumbledore?" Moody asked skeptically after a moment; the old wizard not wanting to admit he was impressed.

"Two words, Moody; Phantom Troupe," Azalea answered and Moody, Remus, and Tonks all straightened up as they glanced at Kurapika in shock and understanding; all three of them well aware of the Spider's reputation either through their line of work (Moody and Tonks) or through their contacts and research (Remus).

"You got some balls going after those nutters," Moody rasped as he dug his hip flask out of his pocket and took a deep swig. "Which three did you get?"

"I killed numbers eleven and nine and neutralized their leader."

"Balls indeed," Moody repeated with a trace of respect. "I approve lass; if he crippled the leader of the Phantom Troupe, then he should be able to handle the majority of your fan club."

"Who or what is the Phantom Troupe?" Fred asked curiously from where he was sitting at the table playing hangman with his twin while half paying attention to the conversation.

"They are, or rather were, the only muggles that Lucius Malfoy feared and respected," Azalea answered again as she glanced up at Kurapika briefly before letting her eyes glance between her friends. "He regularly purchased black market items from them and occasionally gave them priceless artifacts for nothing; just to stay on their good side. Even Voldemort respected and feared the Spider."

"I thought his name was taboo? Aren't you worried about someone attacking this place?" Kurapika inquired with a frown.

"This house is protected by extensive wards and impossible to find unless I specifically tell someone how to find it or I personally bring them here. Fawkes and my elves can also bring people here without them knowing about the house because they are bonded to me."

"The taboo was broken months ago when we retook control of the Ministry," Tonks added a moment later. "Speaking of the Ministry; Kingsley Shacklebolt wants to meet with you, Azalea. Shack went and got himself sworn in as the interim Minister of Magic on the eleventh after the news got out about You-Know-Who being defeated for good."

"I'd forgotten about the Taboo being rescinded back around the middle of October," Azalea muttered to herself with a frown. "I guess that means I owe you an apology for overreacting earlier, Kura."

"You don't have to apologize, kitten; I know you were still struggling to piece together your memories of everything that happened at the time."

"Kitten…?" Fred and George parroted gleefully at the same time.

"I can and will use the two of you as scratching posts again."

"Should I be jealous of you flirting with the bookends, kitten?" Kurapika asked teasingly as he noted both redheads in question turning a little pale over the threat.

"Pfft… please, you can't call it flirting when those two turn into blubbering messes the instant Pixie unsheathes a single claw," Bill barked with a laugh. "Although, I must say that it is rather entertaining to my brothers flee in terror from a half-grown cat after all of the terror those two have caused since they were old enough to walk."

"Those damn claws hurt like hell," Fred muttered as he glowered at Azalea.

"I swear she uses sharpening spells on them," George added with a wince.

"And they have to be poisoned to make a body burn like that when they cut through skin."

"I'd rather herd a hundred fully grown skrewts across a field of hungry acromantula than face those claws again."

"Pansies," Azalea drawled with a smirk. "And, Kura, you're the only one I've ever met that thinks I'm flirting with you when I threaten to hex you in tender places or use you as a scratching post."

"Good to know that I'm the only one man enough to handle you," Kurapika quipped right back.

"I would have said the only one fool enough to play with fire," Charlie interjected as he finally made his way forward to greet Kurapika. "I'd much rather face a nesting dragon alone than an angry Potter."

"Ah, but you have to admit my kitten looks gorgeous when she's all riled up."

Azalea huffed in exasperation as she let go of his arm, poked her lover in the side with her finger, and blushed over the interchange between the two men. Kurapika only chuckled at her as he slipped his recently freed left arm around her back to rest on her left hip so he could pull her close.

"I hope you made out your will, mate; because I'm thinking you just signed your death certificate," Charlie laughingly stated as he slapped Kurapika on the shoulder.

"Ah, but there is no better way to go than to die in the arms of an angel."

"Remind me again why I agreed to bring you with me?" Azalea asked rhetorically as she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Hmm… because I'm irresistible?"

"I'd hex you right now but I think you'd enjoy it too much," Azalea deadpanned as she mock glared up at him.

"You're such a tease, kitten."

"I can easily see why Padfoot approved of him," Remus stated with a laugh.

"I am so infesting Moony's cage with fleas before the next full moon if you continue to encourage him, Remus."

"Fleas are allergic to Moony; they won't even come within ten feet of him."

"I can always lace your chocolate bars with laxatives instead if you'd prefer."

"You are a cold, cruel witch, Harriet Potter."

"And you are such a drama queen, Moony."

"I'll lace Pixie's milk with catnip if you call me that again."

"Pfft… no, you won't; the last time the twins tried that, Pixie shredded everyone's socks and shoes in less than five minutes and spent five hours racing up and down the stairs in the middle of the night yowling her head off before hacking up several furballs in the middle of their beds as payback."

"I would have loved to have seen that," Kurapika declared with a laugh.

"I can arrange that for you if you'd like; Alastor's got a pensieve around here somewhere," Remus replied quite happily as Azalea buried her face in her hands with a groan that soon turned to a growl as Remus added, "or I can arrange for a repeat performance."

"As tempting as that sounds, I do have to sleep at some point."

More than a few people laughed at Kurapika's comment before the majority of those present wandered off to let the rest of the Order know that they could call off the search or to grab something to eat; Viktor and Charlie both heading back to the continent and their jobs. Eventually, the only three still standing in the room were Remus, Azalea, and Kurapika and Azalea tensed as she eyed the older wizard with narrowed eyes as she suspected the man might attempt to give Kurapika the third degree. She automatically drew her wand back out when the man began sealing the room and putting up privacy wards.

"What are you playing at, Remus?" Azalea demanded the moment his wand stilled and he turned to face the couple again.

"I was merely giving us a bit of privacy," Remus calmly replied as he pointedly glanced down at the wand gripped tightly in Azalea's hand. "We were worried sick, Harriet; you were gone for a week and we had no way to find you or even just find out if you were still alive. The others might have been satisfied with what little information you gave us earlier but I would like to know what the hell happened, Harriet."

"That's just it, Remus; I don't know what happened. I was unconscious by the time Fawkes finished transporting me and I didn't 'wake up' until yesterday when Kurapika drew me out of the numbness that had taken hold of me. My memories were all jumbled up and nothing made sense at first and even though everything is mostly straightened out in my mind there is still a lot that I know I'm missing. I'm sorry that you guys were left in the dark but that was never planned and I came back as soon as I could think clearly."

"Can you at least tell me where Fawkes took you?"

"To the Hunter Association's Headquarters; the same place we took you after Nagini bit you."

"That would explain why we couldn't trace you using the phoenix pendants; the Association's main Headquarters is undoubtedly beyond the limits of the spell. Now, you never did answer me when I asked you how seriously you'd been injured during the battle."

"Dr. Mackle informed me that she suffered nothing more serious than a few cuts and bruises aside from the exhaustion, a mild case of prolonged dehydration, slight malnutrition caused by frequent vomiting, and in a state of shock that was most likely due to the severe state of exhaustion she'd been found in coupled with the stress she'd been under since returning to the wizarding world five and a half months ago," Kurapika answered in Azalea's place because she hadn't really spoken to Dr. Mackle since she'd woken up.

"And why, pray tell, would the doctor be discussing Harriet's medical records and health with you, Mr. Kurta?"

"You mean aside from the fact that I am listened as the only emergency contact on all of her paperwork?"

"Yes; because I find it awfully convenient that you just happened to be listed as an emergency contact for a young unmarried woman."

"Remus…" Azalea warned tightly only to fall silent when Kurapika shifted her behind him so that he was standing protectively in front of her.

"Convenience had nothing to do with it, Mr. Lupin," Kurapika curtly retorted. "Azalea entered into a formal agreement with me in regards to her training and it was my responsibility to insure that she was in optimum health prior to starting her on a physical training program. A responsibility I have taken quite seriously."

"And where was that sense of responsibility when you had sex with an underage witch?"

Azalea growled irritably over the insinuation that Kurapika had taken advantage of her; she'd discussed this with Remus months ago and had thought she'd made it perfectly clear that Kurapika had not coerced her into anything. She didn't get a chance to get a word in edgewise though as Kurapika didn't hesitate to correct Remus's assumption.

"You are assuming that I was having sex with Azalea the entire time we were training and you would be wrong, Mr. Lupin; Azalea and I did not have sex until her seventeenth birthday. She offered herself to me sooner but I waited until she was both an adult, by your world's traditions, and certain that that was what she truly wanted and not what she thought she owed me. That was also the day I asked her to wear my ring."

"So, you're claiming that you didn't befriend her just so you could get into her knickers?"

"Remus…" Azalea hissed in irritation.

"I won't deny being interested in a physical relationship with Azalea after spending four or five days getting to know her but that desire had no bearing on the friendship I formed with her over our similar backgrounds; and that was when I still believed her to be a boy. I fell in love with her long before we did anything more than exchange a few heated kisses and every single step forward in our relationship was initiated by Azalea; so no, I did not seek out her friendship just to get into her pants."

"Harriet is my honorary goddaughter and since her return five and a half months ago she's become something of a daughter to me in all but name and blood; her well-being is one of my main priorities. So, in the absence of her parents and her legal godfather, I'm going to ask you exactly what your intentions are in regards to the daughter of my heart. If you are only here with her now in order to seek physical gratification…"

That was the last straw from Azalea and she let out a hissing growl that originated deep in her chest before she stepped around Kurapika as her wand came flashing up at the same time as the incantation for the Stinging Hex rose to the tip of her tongue. Kurapika grabbed her wrist, spun her around into his arms, and pinned her firmly against his chest before she could hex Remus for his audacity. Azalea struggled against his hold as her anger spiked sharply at being thwarted in her attempt to take Remus to task for attempting to act like a parent on her behalf.

"We will be married before the month is out," Kurapika answered over Azalea's head and the pregnant witch froze in shock the moment the words registered in her mind. "I have already begun making arrangements."

"Why the rush…?"

"Who said there is any rush? I've been waiting for well over seven months to make her my wife and we've been engaged since her seventeenth birthday. The only reason we never set a date or got married sooner was because we both had prior obligations to settle first. Azalea recently fulfilled the prophecy that bound her to a terrorist and a madman and I put most of my clan to rest just four days ago thanks to Azalea's efforts to help me reclaim my clansmen's eyes, so there is no longer any reason to put off our wedding as far as I am concerned."

"I will give the two of you my blessing then," Remus stated as he offered his hand to Kurapika for the first time. "Allow me to be the first one to welcome you to our mismatched family."

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**AN: **_Kurapika has finally been introduced to the wizarding world, Remus is channeling his inner 'overprotective relative', and Azalea has just been knocked for a loop. Anyway, the next chapter pretty much picks up from where this one left off and I'll be tossing it up tomorrow (so long as my monitor doesn't crap out on me because it's too cold). Also, chapters 1-14 have been updated with the minor edits I made to this story; though as usual, there's no real need to go back and re-read everything since I didn't make any huge changes to the basic plot or story line. Chapters 15-28 should be updated tomorrow when I add the next chapter. _**  
**

_Oh, and this fic also marks the last of the stories that I have prepped chapters ready for posting; so the WIPs that I've not yet updated will take a bit longer as I try to get something written for them in addition to skimming the earlier chapters for spelling and grammatical errors I missed prior to originally posting them. So, from here on out there will be no definite update schedule as I will post on those stories that have extra chapters in the queue in a random order but will upload at least one chapter per weekend. _

_If you desperately want to know if your favorite story of mine will be updated soon, please check my author's page for information since flooding my PM box isn't going to get you an answer in a timely manner due to the fact that I'm still rather behind in replying to them all. I at least cut the unanswered number in half over the past few weeks. If I didn't reply to your PM, it was either because I have read it yet, it accidentally got skipped or buried, or you asked a question I am not going to answer. _

_No matter the reason, I was not intentionally ignoring anyone; I'm just very terrible when it comes to keeping up with my electronic correspondence. Or any correspondence really. I am not exactly a people person and was socially inept as a child, so, my silence is not really personal. _

_ANYwho, enough about my issues. Keep your fingers crossed that my monitor doesn't get cold feet tomorrow... or whatever the equivalent to cold feet would be for an inanimate object that has no visible limbs... unless you count the cables. ~ Jenn_


	39. The x Tattered x World

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Thirty-Nine: The x Tattered x World

"Now that we have settled the nature of your relationship, what else can you tell me about Harriet's current health? She's been under a considerable amount of stress since August and we have been greatly worried over how much she'd been pushing herself in the war against the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters."

"Why should I answer any more of your questions? Quite frankly, I'm appalled that none of the so called adults in her life took the time to insure that she was eating a properly balanced diet or bothered to address the lingering health issues she suffered from due to frequent and prolonged stretches of malnutrition and outright starvation while under the supposed care of her abusive relatives. That's not even touching upon the lack of consideration given to her emotional and mental state from said abuse or the various dangerous situations that she'd been through since entering the wizarding world. So, Mr. Lupin; why don't you tell me what right you have to know anything about Azalea's current health?"

"Abusive…?" Remus repeated in shock as he glanced between Kurapika and Azalea as his eyes became tinted with amber due to the feral wolf in him rising closer to the surface in response to the depth of true anger that had been stirred by Kurapika's inference that Azalea had been abused by her relatives.

"Kura…" Azalea half pleaded and half warned as she finally stopped reeling from the bombshell that Kurapika had just dropped on her about making arrangements for them to be married to focus on the new direction the conversation was moving in.

"Azalea, you need to stop trying to justify their treatment of you by shouldering the blame for something that was in no way your fault," Kurapika admonished gently but firmly as he cut off her protest. "And I am still waiting for an answer, Mr. Lupin."

"We knew that Harriet was not exactly happy living with the Dursleys but Albus assured us she was at least being taken care of," Remus replied slowly as he visible fought to keep his anger under control (the recent full moon still affecting him rather strongly). "There was never any evidence of abuse…"

"Are you blind? Do the words stunted growth or poor bone density mean anything? Or how about just noticing the way she flinched and shied away from physical contact? Or how easily she disregarded her own health and life if another's life was in jeopardy? Or her stunted social skills and blatant mistrust of adults?"

"I'm not a healer, Mr. Kurta; and as such I do not know how to perform the extensive diagnostic scans that would be needed to determine the health and density of one's bones nor do I have the ability to see such information with the naked eye. There's also the fact that the Potter's have long been known for being late bloomers when it came to physical stature; James was the shortest male in our year right up until our seventh year when he gained six inches over the course of the summer. And Lily was a rather small witch if not quite as small as Harriet."

"As for the rest… after Lily and James died, I did not meet Harriet again until after her thirteenth birthday and even then my interactions with her were mostly limited to class times. My focus at the time was also on another individual whom we all believed sought to harm Harriet and her safety from that threat was always at the forefront of my mind. I watched her from a distance and saw her behavior as that of a typical young witch based upon what I saw; she had friends, she appeared in the Great Hall regularly for meals, she did well in my class, and she occasionally rebelled against the rules."

"Are teachers and healers not trained to spot abuse in the wizarding world? It took me less than five days to recognize all of the visible signs of abuse."

"Why didn't you tell anyone, Harriet…?" Remus asked instead of replying to Kurapika.

"And who was there to tell?" Azalea asked quietly. "Besides, who was going to believe the pampered princess lived in a cupboard under the stairs for ten years and lived the life of a house elf when there are dozens upon dozens of books out there describing the wonderful palace she grew up in and how she had servants to take care of her servants? People saw what they wanted to see and nothing I could have said or done would have made any difference."

"For what it is worth, if I had known, I would have done everything in my power to get you away from them."

"There was nothing you could have done even if you had known, Professor Dumbledore would have never let me leave; my presence was required in order to power the blood wards that protected me from those magicals that meant me harm, after all. And pulling me from their home would have left them open to an attack. It doesn't matter any more any way; I never have to go back there again now that I'm seventeen and I've long since collected the last of my things from their house. As far as I am concerned, that part of my life is over and done with."

"Stubborn brat," Kurapika muttered with fond exasperation as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"Are either of you hungry?" Remus inquired after he noted the time. "It's past six and it's been nearly two hours since the two of you crashed our meeting."

Neither teen had any time to answer the question before all four of Azalea's elves popped into the room carrying several platters heaped with steamed vegetables, grilled steaks, roasted chicken, fresh rolls, baked potatoes, an assortment of salads, and a couple of different types of casseroles. They also carried three full place settings, a steaming pot of freshly brewed tea, a pitcher of pumpkin juice, another pitcher of ice water, an assortment of condiments, a clean table cloth, and a vase holding a bouquet of lilies and ferns. It took only a few seconds before one side of the conference table had been set and the elves vanished just as quickly as they had appeared.

"I guess that means that supper is ready," Remus drawled with a laugh as he headed for the table.

"I am surrounded by pushy people," Azalea groused as she dropped her head against Kurapika's chest.

"I would have said that you are surrounded by people that love you," Kurapika corrected with a soft laugh as he gently rubbed her back. "Come on, kitten, you've already missed one meal due to the differences in time zones so you might as well have little something now."

Azalea huffed in exasperation but allowed Kurapika to steer her over to the table where he seated her in front of the place setting that held yet another dose of nutrient potion before taking the seat directly beside her while Remus sat down at the setting directly across from them. Over the next couple of minutes, the room was filled with nothing but the sound of clinking utensils and soft requests to pass the various dishes or condiments as they filled their plates. They dug into their food once they'd all been served and as they ate the three of them made small talk; each one of them avoiding any of the more touchy topics.

Azalea joined in the conversation sparingly, the young witch once again far more preoccupied with the knowledge that Kurapika intended to marry her and soon according to what he'd told Remus now that the two of them weren't testing one another any longer. She wasn't certain how she should feel about that announcement. Sure, she cared deeply for the blond and she liked the idea of spending the rest of her life with him but she couldn't help but wonder if he was only marrying her because of the twins. The last thing she wanted was for him to think he had to marry her just because of the babies. She was also a little upset that he'd made such a huge decision without talking to her first.

Once the meal was over and dessert had been consumed, the conversation turned to more weighty matters and Azalea put her personal concerns aside in order to get the answers she'd been sent to get. She started by asking, "What happened after Fawkes flashed me away from Hogwarts, Remus? Have the last of the remaining Death Eaters been dealt with? Is Snape still running Hogwarts? And what happened to Voldemort's body?"

"We'd finished dealing with all of the Death Eaters long before you finished your battle with Voldemort; Snape and the Carrows had both been present during that battle. Snape fell to a fellow Death Eater's curse when he was caught fighting on our side and the Carrows were taken down by Fred and George. The only Death Eater that escaped was Pettigrew, unfortunately; the coward transformed into a rat and fled as soon as it became obvious that we were winning and as you know there were no wards around the school to prevent him from leaving."

"Kingsley arrived with a contingent of aurors about twenty minutes after the rest of the Death Eaters turned up; Professor McGonagall had contacted the Ministry shortly after the Death Eaters arrived on the scene. With their help, we quickly finished taking down Voldemort's forces and began securing those Death Eaters that were still alive while the aurors all stopped to gawk at your on-going battle with the Dark Lord. Next thing we knew, you'd finished your fight and then disappeared in a swirl of flames."

"Pandemonium broke out once you vanished and it took us almost twenty-four hours to get organized enough to deliver the dead Death Eaters to Gringotts and clear up the grounds. Hogwarts was closed for the remainder of the month so that the children could be treated for exposure to two of the three Unforgivables in addition to an assortment of other dark curses. Kingsley was elected as the interim Minister two days after the battle and he immediately held a press conference on the castle grounds to announce the defeat of Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"After the conference, Voldemort's body was turned over to the Department of Mysteries along with your wooden swords. The public has been celebrating for the most part now that the news has spread. Some of the older purebloods are still raising a stink about the loss of so many pureblood families at your hands but so far they've done nothing but complain loudly to any one that will listen."

"Gringotts has begun distributing the funds that were set aside for restitution and reconstruction, which has helped bolster the floundering economy in addition to reducing the lingering tension and fear in the wake of the war. It will be years before the wizarding world fully recovers though. And, while credit was given to the Order of the Phoenix for ending the war, the public opinion has once again accorded victory entirely to you and there have been frequent demands from both the public and the press over the past week for word on your whereabouts and your condition."

"Joy," Azalea muttered as she scrubbed at her face. "I don't know why they think I'm some sort of super hero when I never would have been able to accomplish half the things I've done throughout the last five months without help. Each and every one of the men and women that fought by my side since August deserve credit for their actions; and that includes you, Moony."

"We don't mind; you were our rallying point and we never would have had the courage to fight the way we did if you had not been leading us. Dumbledore's Order spent two years working to stop Voldemort and his Death Eaters and we'd barely managed to drum up a little support and information here and there. Albus was a great wizard but he was old and set in his ways and he was fighting a losing war against an enemy that refused to play by his rules. From the moment you returned to us and stepped forward to fight, you changed the rules of engagement and fought to win instead of merely fighting to neutralize the enemy."

"I still say the lot of you deserve just as much of the credit," Azalea stubbornly insisted before she changed the subject in order to avoid an argument. "Did we lose anyone during the final battle?"

"No. There were plenty of injuries to go around but we all made it through the battle thanks to the fact that we'd reduced his army down to practically nothing during the preceding months. The fact that we pulled their financial support out from under them early on helped reduce their overall effectiveness and cut their supply lines to almost nothing since few people were willing to provide them with goods and services for free. That also limited what support Voldemort could gain from the various beings and creatures that had fought for his cause during his first rise."

"The majority of the werewolves that answered to Fenrir Greyback scattered and fled the country after Greyback's death had been announced to the public with only a handful of them choosing to follow the Dark Lord. Aside from a small handful of rogues, the vampires had never been interested in working with Voldemort because he would have restricted their feasting to the blood of muggles. He lost the support of the giants when the first two he had brought over from the continent were killed within days of their first attack a year and a half ago. And all of his efforts to force the goblins to submit to his demands were undermined in one fell swoop when you claimed those first vaults in August."

"The only creatures that he'd managed to draw to his side were the dementors, a handful of Greyback's die-hard pack members, a dozen or so rogue vampires, and a handful of trolls and we'd been dealing with them right alongside of his Death Eaters during our counter raids throughout the last five months," Remus finished a moment later.

"What is the Magical Ministry's stance in regards to the war and what have they been doing to help the wizarding world to recover in the aftermath?" Kurapika asked when Azalea didn't immediately ask another question.

"The Ministry has been floundering and struggling to recover since we helped reclaim it back in November; Voldemort's people had been undermining our government for well over three decades; even in the absence of their lord after his first fall in 'eighty-one. People like Delores Umbridge only complicated matters further with their prejudices and self serving agendas. Bluntly put, our government is in tatters and they're struggling to pick up the pieces along with the rest of our world. Kingsley is doing the best he can with what he has to rebuild our government from the ground up and it is going to take time."

"He's asked the public for their support and help in rebuilding but most people are trying to rebuild their own lives first and foremost. And while he didn't come right out and say it, I'm certain he's hoping that Harriet will stand behind the new Ministry in order to draw more support. Her status as the newly named Girl-Who-Vanquished-The-Dark-Lord makes her a powerful ally since the public has such a high opinion of her right now due to her ending things as quickly and decisively as she did. On top of that, word has spread that it was Harriet that created the relief funds that are being used to help people get back on their feet."

"I swear, if I ever find out who came up with all of those ridiculous hyphenated names, I'm so going to hex them in unmentionable places before turning them into rats for Hedwig to play with," Azalea growled as she dropped her head onto the table. "The stupid things get longer and more ridiculous every time I turn around; next thing you know they'll be calling me the Girl-Who-Won-The-War-By-Murdering-Hundreds-Of-Upstanding-Pureblood-Bigots or the Girl-Who-Dropped-Out-Of-Hogwarts-Two-Years-Early-And-Never-Sat-For-Her-N.E.W.T.s."

"Now who's being a drama queen?" Remus demanded with a laugh.

"Laugh up while you can, furbag; because once I find the motivation I'm going to become the Girl-Who-Publically- And-Painfully-Nuetered-The-World's-Most-Annoying-Werewolf-In-Front-Of-Gringotts-Without-The-Benefit-Of- Numbing-Spells."

Remus's response was to simply laugh louder with Kurapika joining in with quiet snickers. Azalea muttered dire threats under her breath before she simply sighed and ignored both men. Eventually, Remus's roaring laughter turned to soft chuckles before he pushed away from the table, bid them goodnight, and unlocked the door before he slipped off to track down his pregnant wife; leaving the young couple alone behind the privacy wards he forgot to dispel. After a few minutes of silence, Azalea grew pensive as she sat up and turned to study Kurapika; her thoughts once more returning to his earlier declaration that they would be married before the end of the month.

"What's on your mind, kitten?" Kurapika inquired as he caught sight of the look on her face.

"Married by the end of the month?" Azalea quietly inquired with a slight frown.

"I didn't want to put it off too much longer because the boys are due so soon."

"So you intend to marry me just because of the babies?"

"I never said I was only marrying you because you were pregnant."

"And just when did you plan on informing me of your plans? What if I don't want to be married at the end of the month?"

"Azalea, what exactly is it that has you so upset? You were willing enough to marry me back on your birthday when you accepted my ring, so what changed? Is it just because I picked the day and asked Chairman Netero to help me make the arrangements without checking with you first or is there something else bothering you? Or is it that you're upset with me because I countered every one of Mr. Lupin's accusations and insinuations without letting you hex him just because you were angry with him?"

"You didn't ask me to marry you on my birthday…"

"Yes I did; what did you think I meant when I asked you to promise yourself to me for now and forever? Did you think I merely wished to keep you by my side for the sex?"

"No, but I didn't know you were talking marriage either and at the time I'd been far more worried about forcing myself to walk away from you at the end of the night and the fact that I had not known whether or not I would live to see you again once I left. Besides, it's not as if we ever really talked about the future or weddings or babies or anything like that."

"Maybe we should have talked about those things back then but at the time I thought there would have been more than enough time to speak of the future once we'd fulfilled our duties," Kurapika stated with a sigh as he reach out to snag Azalea's hand with his. "From the moment you told me yes, I considered you my wife in all but name and fully planned to marry you once we'd both took care of the things we needed to do. I'd have preferred to wait until after I'd finished dealing with the Phantom Troupe and after we had time to talk about our dreams and future but after finding out you were pregnant, I felt it best that we were married before the boys were born."

"I can well imagine just how receptive the an old fashioned society like the wizarding world would be when it came to unwed mothers and with everything you've told me about blood prejudices it wasn't hard to come to the conclusion that they'd brand the twins as bastards and heap all the stigmas implied with that label upon the children and you on top of whatever difficulties they'd give you because I'm not a wizard. I imagine that was main reason why you hid your pregnancy from your allies, friends, and family all this time. If you had told me about the babies when you first learned about them, I'd have made plans to marry you sooner and I suspect you knew that as well; which was probably another reason why you didn't tell me about the babies after you first learned you were pregnant."

"I was afraid you'd resent me for being careless or for forcing you to abandon your hunt for the Phantom Troupe. I was also scared because I didn't know what to do or who I could turn to for advice."

"Silly, kitten; you weren't the only one that was careless that day and there is nothing you could ever do to make me resent you," Kurapika murmured as he pulled her sideways onto his lap and wrapped her in his arms. "Now, are you willing to marry me?"

Azalea furrowed her brow and glanced down at the delicate ring glittering on her left hand as she considered what she felt for Kurapika, what Fleur was certain she felt for Kurapika, what was best for the babies she carried, and what she wanted out of life. She then asked herself what she wanted from Kurapika and where she really wanted their relationship to go. After five long minutes of silence, she finally answered, "Yes."

"Now for the harder question; do you want to marry me or are you just willing to marry me for the sake of the children?"

"I want to marry you," Azalea replied without any hesitation this time as she leaned back enough to meet his gaze.

Kurapika's eyes became tinted with scarlet fire beneath the black contacts he wore as he leaned down to tenderly kiss Azalea in response to her answer. He pulled back several minutes later to ask, "Will Saturday the thirty-first be an acceptable date or would you prefer to have the ceremony on Saturday, February fourteenth?"

"Where were you planning on holding the ceremony?"

"Lukso Province; near the ruins of the village where I grew up. Satotz agreed to do an archaeological survey of the area in order to determine if a new village could safely be built near the ruins of the original village and check the structural soundness of the original church as it had been damaged during the attack on my clan. If it is safe, I'd like for us to be married inside the church despite the fact that it's in ruins because of how much significance the church held for my clan. If it isn't safe, then there are a couple of other potential places where an outdoor ceremony could be held."

"You do know that there are wards and spells that can be used to reinforce the structure of any building, right?" Azalea asked as she considered the location he wished to use. "Magic could even be used to restore the church to its original state if you wished."

"No, I don't want to restore the church; I planned to leave it as a memorial to the fallen," Kurapika countered after a slight hesitation. "However, I would not mind having the ruins reinforced to prevent them from crumbling further."

"We can approach the goblins regarding an appropriate ward scheme when I meet with them regarding my final battle with Voldemort and the reallocation of funds from the various vaults I claimed through conquest. Can we wait to settle on a date for our wedding until after we know how long it will take to stabilize the ruins?"

"That would be acceptable. Did you have any other questions?"

"What about the ceremony itself? Who did you want to marry us? Would you be opposed to having druid priest or priestess perform a hand-fasting ceremony or are you dead set on having a more traditional church wedding? What about guests? Who are we going to invite? Does it have to be a large wedding or can we keep it nice and small?"

"I had asked Chairman Netero to find a clergyman with ties to the Hunter's Association that would be willing to travel to an undisclosed location to perform a traditional wedding but if you would prefer to have a magical ceremony, then we can do that instead. As far as guests go, I thought we'd keep it small; limit it to those within the Association that know you are both a witch and a woman and those from the magical world that are aware of your status as a Hunter or those that you trust."

"I don't know if I want to mix Hunters and Magicals; there's bound to be trouble if we do, especially once word spreads through the wizarding world that I am getting married. It would be so much simpler if we could have two separate ceremonies because there will be hundreds of witches and wizards that will try to crash our wedding just for the notoriety of saying they were there."

"Why couldn't we have two ceremonies?"

"Because it would be asking too much?"

"Actually, no it wouldn't. Your status in the wizarding world is important and it would be far easier to handle your fame in the wizarding world than it would be to try and prevent them from following us into the muggle world. I should have thought about that before I started making plans without you. The new temporary Minister of Magic will undoubtedly look to you to support his agenda in order to make the recovery of the wizarding world go smoother according to what we learned from Mr. Lupin. What better way to commemorate the end of a terrible war than to celebrate the nuptials of the wizarding world's heroine? The public would eat it up and the Minister's presence at your wedding would look good for him and his efforts."

"I don't like using my fame."

"Better to use it to your advantage then to allow others to use it for personal gain against your wishes."

"You might have a point… but where would we hold the wedding? It would have to be someplace large enough to hold thousands of people if we're going to turn it into a proper circus for the media."

"Where did you always picture your perfect wedding taking place?"

"Hogwarts; because the castle has always been something of a home to me since my first year."

"You do realize how significant it would be to get married at Hogwarts so soon after you defeated Voldemort there, right?"

"Hogwarts is a symbol for all magicals in and of itself, so getting married on the grounds or in the castle would have held meaning with or without the school being the place where Voldemort met his end but you are right in that people would read far more significance into the selection because of how recently the last battle took place."

"Do you think arrangements could be made to rent the castle and grounds for the thirty-first and invitations sent out to those high ranking officials that would need to be invited in time for them to make arrangements to attend? Then we can have a private traditional ceremony for the Hunters in February to give the goblins more time to shore up the church."

"It could probably be done; however, we'd have to meet with the goblins, Minister Shacklebolt, and whoever is in charge of Hogwarts during the temporary closure tomorrow in order to make all of the arrangements. Are you sure that you wouldn't mind?"

"I'm positive."

"Then we have one other problem."

"What's that?"

"Remus is the only one who knows your last name and your connection to the Kurta Clan and he's under oath to never speak of it in front of anyone who doesn't know who you are. Witches and wizards actively sought your clan's eyes; they wouldn't be above targeting you and our children for the chance to cornering the market on Scarlet Eyes now that I've reclaimed all of those that had been held in a large number of private collections for years. I won't allow that to happen; they'll have enough targets on their back because I'm a Potter and the defeater of Voldemort."

"So I'll take your name."

"As sweet as that is and as much as I hate to think it; I think it best to let the Potter name die out, to let the Potters fade into obscurity and take the fame associated with that name with them into the pages of history."

"Then where does that leave us for a name, kitten?"

"What do you think of the name Evans? I think my great-grandfather would be chuffed if we revived his family line and filled the family tree with little magical, scarlet-eyed Hunters to follow in his footsteps."

"That would also allow the Kurta name to fade from memory and offer protection for our children from Flesh Hunters looking to making a killing now that there is only one remaining set of Scarlet Eyes out there aside from mine and our children's, once they are born. How would that work though? Would you claim the name first so that I could take your name once we're married?"

"No, that would just make people question why I bothered changing my name in the first place. We'll see the goblins about making arrangements for you to claim the Evans family through conquest when we see them tomorrow and they can forge the paperwork to legally make you an Evans on both the magical and muggle side. For those that remember Papa Greg, we can claim you to be a squib from his line if needs be and since no one ever connected my mother to the Evans' line, they wouldn't assume that I was marrying a close cousin."

"Oh? And just what was it that I conquered, my fair lady?"

"You soundly defeated me in armed combat, claimed my body as your prize, and won my devotion after you laid siege to my heart," Azalea softly confessed as she twisted around on his lap to straddle his legs.

Kurapika's eyes shone with muted scarlet flames through the black contacts he wore as he pulled her closer and captured her mouth in a passionate kiss that stole her breath away. Azalea moaned in the back of her throat as her hands sought out the buttons of the cloak that Kurapika wore and deftly began undoing them with practiced ease born of an intimate familiarity with the buttons on the dueling style cloaks. Once she had the cloak undone, she slipped it off of his shoulders and leaned back to pull Kurapika's tabard over his head to get it out of her way before kissing her way to his neck while her fingers sought to pull his shirt free of his pants once more.

At the same time, his hands slid beneath her cloak to cup her bum as he dropped his head back against the back of the chair to give her better access to his neck. Azalea's hands soon had both shirts free of his pants and she slipped her hands inside of them so she could run her fingers over his skin once again as she sat up and returned her lips to his for another kiss. Kurapika brought one hand up to undo the buttons on her cloak in turn as his other hand slid up to trail up and down her spine beneath the cloak. Her shirt was unbuttoned next and then one of his hands was running over her corset before sliding up to trace along the top edge of the dragon hide while his other hand dropped lower to cup her bum once more.

Kurapika broke their kiss and dropped his lips to her neck just below the ruby choker she was wearing as his hands opened her shirt more. Azalea moaned as his lips nipped and suckled at the hollow at the base of neck as she arched her back while clinging to his bunched up shirts. His exploring fingers soon found the zipper running down the left side of the corset beneath her armpit and he tugged it down a short ways as he kissed his way from her neck to the top of the leather-like material where it covered and hid her breasts. He'd just snagged the edge of the corset with his teeth to pull it out of the way while he worked the zipper lower when the door to the War Room opened up and the twins walked into the room.

"…and then he was gaping like a fish when he…"

"When he what…?"

"Er, Forge, did you order a private performance for tonight…?"

"Not that I know of, Gred, why? Oh, that's why…"

"Think maybe we should sell tickets to the rest of the house?"

"Nah, I should have brought along some popping corn though."

"Oh, hey, don't stop on our account you two…"

"Yeah, we don't mind and it you looked like you were having fun!"

"I'm just going to curl up right here and die of embarrassment now, okay?" Azalea whined as she buried her red face against Kurapika's chest.

"I'd much rather you hex someone for interrupting us," Kurapika countered with a laugh as he pulled his hands out from under her clothes and shifted her cloak in order to cover her partially undressed form. "That's twice now we've been interrupted today, kitten; do you think fate is trying to tell us something?"

"Yes, it's telling us we need to invest in a locked room. Who did you wish for me to hex first; you or our unwanted audience?"

"Decisions, decisions; I know, why don't you hex the bookends first and then you can drag me off so I can have my way with you behind locked doors."

"I think I really like the sound of that," Azalea agreed as she sat up a bit and cast a pair of wandless Stinging Hexes as the twins (eliciting yelps from the pair) before calling for her phoenix friend. "Fawkes, can you take us upstairs please?"

The phoenix appeared just seconds later trilling out a laugh as he circled around the chair the two of them were sitting in before he flamed them away chair and all.

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**AN: **_A little bit of drama, a dash of angst, a touch of citrus, and a few teaspoons of silliness thrown in.__ A sort of fluffy-like chapter with a few details on how things stand now in the wizarding world. The next chapter picks up from where this one left off and has a bit more fluff as well as some other information-y type stuff going on. I still have to cut out the lemon at the beginning of that chapter though, so I might not have it up tomorrow. It will be up no later than Monday for certain though. That much I know. _**  
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_Anywho, chapters 15-28 were updated as promised and the rest of the edited chapters will be replaced tomorrow even if I don't have chap 40 ready for posting until Monday. _

_Until I post again, HAPPY HALLOWEEN *sets out bucket of full sized Snickers Bars, a tray of pumpkin cookies, a pitcher of punch, another of steaming hot chocolate, and a tub of apples bobbing in water*. ~ Jenn_


	40. Intermission x and x Inquiries

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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**CHAPTER WARNING:**

_This chapter contains several hints and references to activities of a sexual nature (including intercourse), though I did not go into great detail. _

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Chapter Forty: Intermission x and x Inquiries

They were delivered directly into Azalea's bedroom on the second floor and the diminutive witch thanked the phoenix as she pulled out her wand and used to it to magically seal the room from unwanted intrusions. A scattering of candles that had just been placed in the room by Minky previously flared to life as soon as the phoenix left; lighting the room with a soft glow. After a brief moment's consideration, she added a silencing ward to the room as well as a slue of privacy wards to prevent anyone from spying on them.

She then put her wand away and returned her attention to her lover as she asked, "Now, where were we?"

"I do believe that this is where I am supposed to have my wicked way with you."

"Are you sure I'm not supposed to hex you first?"

"Well, I suppose we could flirt a little more but is it really necessary when you already have my attention?"

"Necessary…? No, but it would certainly be entertaining," Azalea quipped around a laugh.

"And here I thought you were looking forward to me ravishing you."

"Oh, I am… but I might just have to hex you for stalling."

Kurapika laughed as he gathered Azalea into his arms, climbed to his feet, and carried her over to the large bed that took up most of the room. He gently set her down on her feet beside the bed before he shrugged out of the borrowed cloak and his shirts before he helped her out of her cloak and shirt. The eighteen year old then took her in his arms once more and captured her mouth in a kiss as his hands slid up and down her back. Azalea hummed appreciatively she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her fingers in his hair. His hands soon dropped down to her waist before circling around to unbutton her pants.

He slid her pants down over her hips before he lifted her up off the floor just enough for her to kick them free when they pooled around her ankles and set her back on her feet the moment they were out of the way. Azalea moaned as Kurapika then cupped her bum and pulled her flush against him. The feel of his hands massaging her bum through her corset felt wonderful and she moaned again as she arched her hips into his. She whined a moment later when he broke their kiss and pulled away from her.

"I want to see you, Azalea," Kurapika huskily murmured as he reached up to unzip her corset all the way with one hand while his other hand peeled the material back and down to bare her breasts and distended stomach before he used both hands to push both her corset and her knickers down over her hips to pool at her feet.

His eyes hungrily drank in the sight of her before they rested on the very visible evidence of the babies growing in her womb. Azalea felt more than a little self conscious as she stood there in the flickering candlelight and she dropped her hands to her belly. Kurapika snagged her hands in his a moment later and gently pulled them out of the way before he lightly placed his hands on her belly. Azalea shivered a bit as his fingers ghosted over the skin and tickled her as he traced the contours of her swollen stomach. She then placed her hands over his and moved his hands so that his palms lay flat against her belly as the twins shifted inside of her.

"What was…? Was that the babies moving?"

"Yes."

"Are they always this active?"

"Sometimes, they always seem more active whenever I want to sleep."

"They must have inherited their mother's love for mischief."

"I would have said they take after their father with their annoying persistence in poking and prodding me."

Kurapika laughed softly over her retort as he rubbed her belly with his hands. He smiled when he was rewarded with more kicks from the babies in response. Azalea closed her eyes and sighed softly as the last of her worries over Kurapika reacting negatively to the babies vanished as the blond continued to tenderly caress her belly.

"You look so beautiful, love," Kurapika murmured a moment later as he let his hands circle around to her back before he carefully pulled her closer, taking care not to crush her stomach, so that he could tenderly brush her lips with his.

Azalea then had her feet swept out from under her as he picked her up in his arms and gently placed her in the center of the bed after turning down the covers. Opening her eyes, Azalea watched as Kurapika shucked his pants and boxers. She blushed lightly when she noticed that he was still hard and felt her own desire stir in response. When she finally pulled her eyes away from his crotch to look him in the face, she blushed again as she caught the small knowing grin on his face. She then frowned as she noted that he was still wearing the black contacts to hide his eyes.

"What's wrong, Zalea?"

"Will you take the contacts out? I miss seeing your eyes."

Kurapika didn't hesitate to comply with her request before he slipped into the bed beside Azalea and stretched out beside her as he propped himself up on one elbow and reached out to place his other hand on her belly. Azalea couldn't take her eyes off of his scarlet tinted brown eyes as his gaze lingered on her stomach once more. He turned to meet her gaze a moment later as he leaned down to kiss her. She kept her eyes open as she watched the last of the brown in his eyes vanish in a swirl of scarlet flames.

The next hour saw the two of them making slow and tender love as they each went to great lengths to show each other just how much they'd missed the other before they fell asleep curled up together.

Azalea's rebellious stomach woke her up five minutes after six the next morning, much like it did every morning, and she made to roll out of bed so she could hurry into the bathroom before she threw up. Her efforts to leave the bed were hindered by the arm securely wrapped around her chest beneath her breasts and the legs tangled up with hers beneath the covers. It took several precious minutes to wake Kurapika up enough to get him to let her go and the witch hit the ground running in order to make it to the bathroom before she emptied her stomach.

She felt Kurapika join her a moment later when he leaned over her, pulled her hair out of the way, and gently rubbed her back. It would have been odd if not for the fact that he'd often offered comfort when she'd thrown up even before they'd began dancing about the attraction they felt for one another back during the Hunter Exam. When she finished and sat up to flush the toilet, Kurapika stepped away and filled up the cup sitting on the sink with cold water before passing it to her so she could rinse out her mouth. He then wet a wash cloth and rung it out before he returned to her side and traded the wash cloth for the now empty cup so she could wash her face off.

"Thanks, Kura," Azalea murmured as he helped her up onto her feet, dropped the lid down on the toilet, and sat her down.

"You're welcome, kitten," Kurapika replied as he studied her face for a moment. "Are you going to be alright now?"

"I'm fine, Kura; my stomach's just a little upset."

"And you've been doing this every morning this whole time?"

"Since September at least… and it's every afternoon and evening as well as every morning since October…"

"How is it that no one has noticed you being sick all of the time?"

"They did notice it but I convinced them that I was only getting sick because of the Death Eaters I killed and they accepted that because I consistently puked directly after each fight was over. Madam Pomfrey probably would have set them straight on the matter if I hadn't forced her to swear on her Healer's Oath not to speak about my health to anyone without my permission. I had to make certain she didn't tell Snape about the babies while he was Headmaster though because I couldn't risk Voldemort finding out I was pregnant."

"And wizards aren't exactly the most observant of individuals so they probably ignored any clues that didn't fit with your explanation," Kurapika added with a slight scowl and a headshake. "How they have managed to hide an entire society for as long as they have with their obvious cluelessness and lack of observational skills is a complete mystery."

"No it's not; they simply don't feel they have to pay attention to their surroundings because if they slip up they can just erase a few memories and then go about their merry way."

"Altering memories is wrong on so many levels…"

"I've done it."

"What do you mean?"

"I've altered people's memories… while I was on the ship heading towards the starting location for the Exam when some of the other exam hopefuls attempted to do more than just try and intimidate me. I also altered a few memories during the course of the Exam."

"Did you ever alter my memories? Or those of Gon, Killua, or Leorio?"

"No, there was never a reason to alter your memories or those of the other three and I only ever altered memories as a last resort in order to protect myself; such as when I altered the memories of the woman that had been caught in the Snake Charmer's trap after she'd seen and heard me talking to the snakes."

"I don't think I like the idea that you've played around with people's minds and memories but I can understand why you felt like you had no choice; especially before and during the Hunter Examination when you really didn't have any way to protect yourself aside from your magic. All I ask is that you never mess with my memories."

"I won't. I've never once considered altering your memories for any reason; not even back when I'd still been trying to ditch you and the others during the Exam," Azalea stated earnestly.

"That's good enough for me," Kurapika replied as he leaned forward to brush a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. "Are you feeling up to joining me in the shower or did you want to crawl back into bed instead?"

"Shower; we've got too many things to do today for me to lounge around in bed all day."

Forty-five minutes later, Azalea was seated at the desk in her room writing out a letter to Bill's supervisor asking if the goblin had time to meet with her first thing that morning when the bank opened for business. When she finished with that letter, she started one for the interim Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, inquiring if he'd have time to see her around lunch time. The next letter she wrote was to Professor McGonagall requesting the name of the person that she'd need to speak to in regards to making arrangements to hold a large public event on the school grounds. Alongside of that letter, Azalea wrote out an unaddressed letter intended for the individual responsible for overseeing Hogwarts at the moment in order to request a meeting for later that afternoon or evening.

The final letter was addressed to Chairman Netero giving him a brief summary on the current state of affairs in the wizarding world and letting him know she'd make arrangements to meet with him the following week to give him a full report after she'd had more time to meet with key individuals to get a clearer picture of where things stood. Kurapika leaned over to add a few comments on the bottom of that last letter about the changes being made to their wedding plans; including the fact that they now intended to hold two separate weddings.

Once all of the letters were signed and sealed with privacy wards that would prevent anyone but the recipient from opening the letter (Netero's protected with Nen), Azalea gave a short whistle to call her elves to her (calling all of their names individually when she needed all four of them had quickly grown tedious over the months since she'd bonded with the last of the former Malfoy elves). All four elves promptly popped into the room with soft cracks (as if they'd just been waiting for her call) and lined themselves up in front of Azalea.

"Thank you for answering so quickly," Azalea stated as she glanced at each of the elves in turn. "I have a couple of jobs for the four of you but before I give you the details, I have a couple of introductions to make. Minky and Tanker, this gentleman here is Kurapika and he is to be treated as family; Kurapika and I will be married in two weeks and he is the father of my babies. Kura, I'd like you to meet Minky and Tanker; the two elves that bonded with me back in September after I manipulated Malfoy into freeing them."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both and I'd like to thank all four of you for taking care of Azalea for past few months."

"Minky is pleased to meet Mistress Azalea's K'apika."

"Tanker is happy to serve."

"Dobby glad Mistress Azalea's K'apika be back to stay; Mistress Azalea sad and mopey without her K'apika," Dobby declared as he enthusiastically hugged Kurapika's leg.

"Kreacher serves as a proper elf should serve; Kreacher does not need thanks."

Azalea rolled her eyes at the contrariness of the Black Family elf but let it slide because he had actually mellowed out considerably since she'd destroyed Slytherin's Locket during the summer. She shook her head a moment later to get her thoughts back on track as she focused on the elves once more so that she could assign them a few tasks.

"Now that the introductions have been taken care of, I have several important letters that I need three of you to deliver at exactly eight o'clock this morning. I will also need you to wait for a reply, whether it is verbal or written. Tanker, please take this letter to Bill's supervisor at the bank; I'm hoping to meet with him at his earliest convenience this morning. Kreacher, I'd like you to handle the delivery for the letter to Minister Shacklebolt in the hopes that I can meet with him around lunchtime or once I've finished my meeting with the goblins."

"Minky, you'll be delivering two letters for me; the first one is to go to Professor McGonagall asking her for the name of the person I need to speak to about using the Hogwarts grounds or castle for the wedding. I'm hoping that person will be McGonagall but there's a chance she might not be the one I need to see. The second letter is to be delivered to the person in charge of overseeing Hogwarts right now; Professor McGonagall will be able to tell you who that is if it is not her."

Azalea passed out those four letters and sent the elves back to their duties after asking for one of them to make breakfast for her a Kurapika. She then turned to address the final elf, "Dobby, I have a letter here that I need for you to deliver to Chairman Netero; he knows to expect you, so you can go at any time. And please wait for a reply."

Dobby nodded enthusiastically and snagged the letter before he vanished with a pop and Azalea chuckled softly over the elf's enthusiasm. She then sighed and sagged back in her chair; she was already tired and her day hadn't even really started.

"Tired already, kitten?"

"Yes."

"Should you even be up and moving about? I mean, you were seriously exhausted after your battle with Voldemort according to what Dr. Mackle told me, you're over five months pregnant with twins, and technically you were never released from the infirmary. Your all-day morning sickness can't be doing you any favors either."

"I'll be fine, Kura; I'm not going to be doing anything more strenuous than talking today. And I slept better last night than I did at any time over the past five months."

"Zalea…" Kurapika sternly began only for the witch to cut him off.

"I'm not made of glass…!"

"I never said you were," Kurapika cut right back rather sharply as he scowled at her. "You have an annoying tendency to push yourself without any regard for your health and right now you are not the only who will suffer if you push yourself too far; you need to think about the babies." Azalea flinched minutely in response to the rebuke and Kurapika sighed as he couched down in front of the chair. "I need you to take care of yourself, love, because I don't want to lose you or the boys. I realize that you've been driving yourself for so long that it's become a force of habit for you but there is no need for you to drive yourself into the ground any longer. Give yourself time to heal and regain the energy you'll need once the babies are born because we both know they are going to be a handful."

"I'm s…"

"Don't apologize, kitten; you know that annoys me."

"Sorry," Azalea offered with a small timid smile as he huffed.

"Stubborn brat," Kurapika replied as he reached out to snag Azalea's hands with his. "Do you remember the rules I laid down when I offered to train you?"

"Yes."

"Good; I fully expect you to start following them again from this point forward. I will follow your lead in dealing with the wizards as promised but you will not so much as lift a pencil without my permission. I'll leave your diet in the hands of the elves, since they seem to be making certain you eat regularly and know what you can and can't eat right now, but if I even think you're overexerting yourself I will step in."

"I suppose it's a good thing I don't use pencils," Azalea quipped before she sighed and sagged back in the chair.

"Come on, let's go get you something to eat; the elves are probably anxiously waiting for you to appear so that they can feed you," Kurapika insisted as he stood up and scooped Azalea out of the chair before carrying her towards the door.

Azalea grumbled under her breath about being carried but made no demands to be set down as she instead snuggled against Kurapika's chest. As he carried her through the house, Azalea gave the blond a verbal tour as she described the layout of each floor and informed him which rooms to avoid (like the twins' shared room on the first floor). He was very interested in the library and Azalea teased him about being a closet bookworm (his vast store of knowledge had to come from somewhere, after all).

Kurapika walked into the kitchen still carrying Azalea just fifteen minutes later and stopped short as ten sets of eyes (belonging to those individuals that were still living in Grimmauld place plus Bill and Fleur) swung around to stare at them. Azalea eeped as her face and neck turned bright red over the assessing looks and knowing smirks that everyone was giving them. She would have removed herself from the blond's arms but Kurapika refused to set her down as he began walking once more after coolly meeting everyone's gaze without an ounce of shame.

"Something wrong with the lass's legs this morning?" Moody asked leadingly as he took a swig from his ever present hip flask.

"Not at all; I'm merely practicing."

"Oh…? Practicing for what?" Fred and George curiously asked in unison.

"Carrying my kitten over the threshold, of course; we'll be tying the knot in two weeks so I figured I had better get all the practice I can get so I don't carelessly drop my lovely little lady."

"Seems to me you're already quite proficient in the carrying bit," Bill drawled with a snort of amusement.

"You have already set ze date for ze wedding zen?" Fleur inquired as she immediately focused on what she felt was the more important part of Kurapika's declaration.

"Yes, we'll be married on the thirty-first," Azalea replied a little hesitantly as she recalled Remus's response from the night before to the timing of the wedding.

"Any particular reason the two of you are in such a rush?" Tonks asked curiously; her cluelessness indicating that Remus had not filled her in on their discussion from the night before.

"Oh please, zere is no rush! Our little flower has been pining over her absent beau since she returned to us back in August," Fleur countered in her haughtiest tone before she beamed at the couple as Kurapika settled Azalea on the bench at the end of the table before taking a seat beside her at the same time as Fawkes flashed into the room and perched on Azalea's shoulder. "Congratulations, mes chers; I am happy for ze two of you. If you need any help wiz making ze arrangements, I would be happy to lend a hand."

Kreacher popped up a moment later to deposit a plate of fresh fruit (bananas and grapes this time) with a small bowl of cottage cheese and two slices of dry toast down in front of her. Minky turned up next with Azalea's morning potion, a glass of skimmed milk lightly laced with chocolate syrup, and a glass of apple juice. Tanker delivered Kurapika's food after the female elf disappeared and Dobby popped up a split second later to pass the blond a strong cup of coffee and a tall glass of grapefruit juice (the green-eyed elf well aware of Kurapika's beverage preferences).

"I do need to find a dress…" Azalea confessed before silently adding, '_or two_.'

"Don't forget the flowers," Tonks interjected excitedly as she and Fleur both shifted down to crowd around Azalea while Andromeda smiled indulgently over the behavior of the younger witches from her seat beside her husband. "The cake is going to be important as well."

"Just how big of a wedding are you planning, mon cher; are you going to go with big and glamorous or are you going to go with small and secretive?" Fleur asked as she summoned a roll of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a quill in order to start taking notes.

Azalea opened her mouth to reply only to end up with a spoonful of cottage cheese in her mouth courtesy of Kurapika as the blond answered the question in her stead, "Originally, we were hoping to keep it small and simple with just friends and family but after our discussion with Mr. Lupin last night, it occurred to us that doing so would be tantamount to daring the magical masses to crash the wedding; with reporters leading the pack hoping to unearth a scandal or ten."

"So zis will be a very large and public wedding. I will help you make a list of politically important guests zat you will need to invite so zat you do not offend potential allies. Ze media will also need to be invited. Location will be important as well; we will need someplace with room enough for everyone to sit comfortably…"

"I appreciate your willingness to help and look forward to hearing your input but I'm going to ask you to hold off on making too many plans for the moment," Kurapika interrupted before Fleur could finish her last thought. "My kitten needs to eat and we already have plans to meet with several individuals today to get the ball rolling. We can sit down tomorrow with you, if you have time, and start dealing with the details then."

Several sets of eyes turned to watch Azalea, more than one of those present expecting her to be upset over the way Kurapika had taken complete control of the conversation and the wedding plans. They were therefore more than a little surprised to find her ignoring everyone as she absently peeled and ate the skin from a grape before she offered the rest of the small fruit to Fawkes and grabbed another grape to peel the moment he plucked it from her fingers. Feeling their eyes on her, she glanced up to find everyone watching her with varying degrees of worry, concern, and amusement.

"What…?"

"What in the nine levels of hell are you doing?" Remus asked as he shook off his shock.

"Peeling a few grapes for Fawkes, like I always do; what does it look like I'm doing?"

"And the reason you didn't try to rearrange your boy toy's face…" Fred started.

"…for daring to answer in your place and make decisions without your input?" George finished asking.

"We've seen you tear into our little brother for…"

"…daring to speak on your behalf on more than one occasion."

"First of all, don't call Kura that; he's neither a boy nor a toy. Secondly, your brother is a moron that loves to stuff both of his feet in his mouth in order to prove himself superior to everyone and he used to annoy me by making matters worse for me with his idiocy every time he opened his mouth without bothering to use his brain first. Kura, on the other hand, has proven that he only has my best interests in mind when he jumps in on my behalf. And thirdly, whoever said he was making all of the decisions on his own?"

"You trust him that much, lass?"

Azalea glanced at the blond seated beside her before she turned her eyes to Moody as she answered, "Yes, I do."

"Eat, Zalea," Kurapika ordered softly as he scooped up another spoonful of cottage cheese and held it in front of her mouth when she didn't immediately return to her meal.

Azalea huffed but accepted proffered bite as a light blush dusted her cheeks when several of those present laughed. She was saved from further embarrassment by the return of Kreacher, Tanker, and Minky as they passed her the replies she'd requested to the letters she'd sent with them. Azalea thanked the three beings and made to open the letters in her hand only to find them being plucked from her fingers by Kurapika who merely arched an eyebrow and pointed at her barely touched breakfast.

Sticking her tongue out at her bossy beau, Azalea complied with the unspoken order even as she gestured at the letters with her spoon to give him permission to open the letters since he wasn't letting her do it.

"The goblins have agreed to meet with us first thing this morning," Kurapika announced after he skimmed through the first letter before moving onto the next one. "Minister Shacklebolt stated that he is available to meet with us any time today and he apparently cleared his schedule for the entire day; makes him sound rather desperate to meet with you. And acting Headmistress McGonagall indicated that you are welcome at the castle at any time and that she will have time to meet with us about our request after five this evening. She also invited us to join her for supper."

"That works out perfectly since I don't really know how long it will take us to get things settled with the goblins."

"Ah, listen, Harriet; if you're planning on going out in public you might want to think about wearing something other than your phoenix cloak and take a couple of extra bodies with you," Remus stated in a forced casual tone.

"Why?"

"So you don't get mobbed, lass," Moody growled out with a huff; as if he thought it should have been obvious why she would need to disguise herself and take a guard.

"I'm not going anywhere without my cloak; Fawkes can flash us directly to the lobby of the bank. I've had permission to do so from the goblins since November. I don't need bodyguards to visit Gringotts or Hogwarts but it is probably best to have a few extra people on hand when I go to the Ministry."

"When _we_ go to the Ministry," Kurapika corrected as he reached up to tug on the loose braid she'd tied her hair up in.

"I figured that was a given, Kura."

"Just making certain you weren't trying to leave me behind already, kitten."

"Yeah, because that's worked out so well for me in the past."

"What can I say, I learned from the best."

"Remind me to hex Gon for setting such a bad example for you later."

* * *

**Translations:** French to English

Mes chers – my dears  
Mon cher – my dear

* * *

**AN: **_Finally! It took a bit of maneuvering but I managed to extract the lemon that was originally in this chapter and only lost 500 words instead of the 2000 I had lost the last time I had to remove mature content. I hate cutting things but I'd really rather not deal with the hassle of having a story deleted because of content. _

_Anywho, after much debate and a combing of what chapters I have available for posting, I've decided that the next story I update this coming weekend will be this one again; since it has the most chapters prepared. I don't know when I'll be ready to update any of my other WIPs as while I have quite a few chapters prepped, the arcs that those chapters are part of are incomplete and I do not want to leave a large cliff hanger or be forced to scramble to complete a chapter to wrap up an arc. So, it will take time for me to update those stories. _

_For those WIPs that did not get updated this round, I am still working on the edits/revisions and writing out the next chapters and hope to have something for them within the next couple of months. Those stories include; Banished Destiny, Unseen Deductions, Destiny Delayed, Stubborn Shadow, and The Unbound Soul and the ongoing progress on their next chapters is listed on my author's page for those who are curious to see where they stand. ~ Jenn_


	41. Banking x on the x Future

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Forty-One: Banking x on the x Future

At exactly nine o'clock, when the bank's doors were unlocked, Azalea and Kurapika appeared off to one side of the doors inside of the lobby in a flash of flames. Fawkes trilled a short note before disappearing in a second swirl of flames as the bird went to wherever it was he went when he wasn't watching over Azalea (or begging treats from her). All of the goblins present paused what they were doing to glance up at the pair before they returned to their duties after they had recognized Azalea due to her cloak and the fleeting presence of the phoenix.

The diminutive witch nodded politely to those goblins that met her gaze as she led Kurapika across the lobby towards the door at the back of the cathedral sized room that led to the offices of the higher ranked goblins. They were met at the door by a pair of heavily armored guards that scowled suspiciously at Kurapika before allowing them to pass through the door. Another, shorter goblin was waiting for them on the other side of the door and he beckoned for them to follow him as he led them to the office of Bill's supervisor.

In no time at all, the two of them were being ushered into the fierce goblin's office where the powerful goblin waited for them behind his desk. Kurapika soon seated Azalea in the only chair present on their side of the desk while he remained standing behind her.

"I had begun to think that you were avoiding me, Miss Potter," the goblin declared as he looked up from the stack of papers he'd been reading through. "It is not like you to put off settling your latest conquests for so long." The goblin then let his gaze shift over to Kurapika as he studied the blond with narrowed eyes. "It is also not like you to bring company to our meetings. Of course, I also would have expected your escort to be Curse Breaker Weasley or one of his annoying siblings; not an unknown boy."

"It would have been presumptuous of me to pull Curse Breaker Weasley away from his duties just to escort me through the bank to meet with you and his three brothers are currently occupied with business of their own," Azalea stated with a shrug of her shoulders. "Besides, the gentleman I brought with me has business with the bank."

"And the reason the boy could not see one of the tellers?"

"He is here to claim a family name and a vault through conquest."

"Oh? And just what family is it he believes he is entitled to stake a claim on?"

"Mine."

"Excuse me?" the goblin exclaimed in shock as his gaze bounced between Azalea and Kurapika. "I am not certain I heard you correctly; I could have sworn you just told me that this boy was here to claim your vaults and your family."

"You heard me correctly, honored goblin; he is here to claim any vaults that belonged to my maternal great-grandfather, Gregory Evans, and to take my great-grandfather's last name as his own as is his right by conquest."

"He is not staking a claim on the Potter and Black Families as well?"

"No; just the Evans Family."

"Introduce me to this boy so that we might get this nonsense out of the way before we get down to business," the goblin ordered as he scowled at Azalea.

"Honored goblin, allow me to introduce you to Kurapika Kurta; the last surviving member and Head of the Kurta Clan, my fiancé, and the father of my unborn children."

Kurapika frowned at her for a brief moment for mentioning the twins before he cleared his face of all emotion and bowed respectfully to the goblin as he stated, "It is a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"By what right do you claim the Evans name and vaults, Mr. Kurta?"

"By right of physical conquest," Kurapika replied as he'd been instructed by Azalea before they'd arrived.

"And do you either one of you have proof of your conquest?"

"Yes," Azalea replied as she withdrew her wand in preparation of pulling her memories of at least two of the spars she'd fought against Kurapika that clearly showed him winning.

"Show me," the goblin ordered as he brought out the rough stone pensieve.

Azalea complied with the demand and placed the requested memories into the basin. She then watched as the goblin disappeared into the pensieve to view the memories before her attention was drawn to the blond standing beside her.

"Why did you bring up the babies, kitten? I thought you were hiding their existence from everyone in order to protect them?"

"I can't hide them forever, Kura, and the goblins will need to be aware of them because they will be the heirs to the Potter, Black, and Evans families. In the eyes of the goblins, they are also proof that you claimed me. Goblins don't marry; the goblins win their consorts through conquest. A goblin will never lay a hand on a female goblin he has not won through battle; either by defeating her, her father, or her current consort in armed combat. The only exception is for pregnant females as all children are held sacred by the goblins and all children rightfully belong to their fathers. If the consort of a pregnant or nursing female goblin dies, then both mother and child become the property of the consort's father or nearest male relative if his father has died."

"So, you are saying that because you are carrying my children, they will see you as belonging to me despite the fact that we are not yet married?"

"That is correct, Mr. Kurta," the goblin answered in Azalea's place as he returned to the office after watching the two short memories. "We only honor the marriages of humans because the treaty between our peoples demands that we must follow the laws of witches and wizards. Unwed mothers are seen as threats by witches and wizards because goblins will recognize the child as being the son or daughter of the man who sired the child regardless of the circumstances in which the child was born; meaning that a bastard child from an earlier indiscretion could stand to inherit the fortune of his or her father regardless of their status, gender, or last name."

"However, that will only happen in the cases where the father has not written out a will prior to his death; since we are oath bound to follow the letter of the will regardless of the bloodline succession. We are not here to discuss the intricacies of goblin culture though; we are here to determine whether or not you have a valid right to claim the Evans name and vaults, Mr. Kurta. According to the memories I have just viewed; it would appear that you have a legitimate claim to the family vaults but I need further proof before I validate your claim to the Evans name."

"What exactly is it you would need?"

"I will need proof that Miss Potter is pregnant to start in addition to the confirmation that you are the father of her unborn child."

"Children, I am carrying twins," Azalea corrected absently as she placed her hands protectively over her belly while her stomach began churning. "How exactly do you plan to confirm the paternity of my children?"

"With goblin magic, Miss Potter; our healers are capable of determining a child's parentage with complete accuracy. It is a skill that was developed in order to confirm the identity of the father in rare cases where a goblin female has been claimed by multiple goblins in rapid secession before her pregnancy was discovered. You need not worry for the health of your unborn children; goblin magic will not harm them."

"I did not think you intended to harm my babies; I just did not wish to share the memories of my private life."

"Have no fear, Miss Potter, I have no desire to witness the creation of the children you carry in your womb," the goblin dryly retorted as he strode to the door in order to send for a goblin healer. "While we are waiting for the healer to arrive, why don't you explain to me your reasons for allowing Mr. Kurta to claim an extinct family line as opposed to having him claim the Potter or Black lines; since they are the more prestigious families? Why allow him to claim any of your family names, for that matter?"

"My clan was hunted into near extinction close to seven years ago for reasons I would prefer not to discuss," Kurapika explained. "As a result, my last name is known throughout the world and any child of mine would be targeted for the same reason as my clan was targeted. I do not wish to place my family in danger simply because of who we are. I had been willing to take Azalea's last name once we are married…"

"But the Potter name comes with just as large of a target," Azalea finished when Kurapika trailed off. "The Black name has issues of its own since the Black Family has long been known as a dark family and since the death of my godfather the Black name has been associated with the Potter Family through me. Those who remember my mother's maiden name never associated her with my great-grandfather; if they had, then they never would have labeled her as a muggleborn when she first entered the wizarding world instead of the halfblood or pureblood she actually was. So, by having Kurapika claim the Evans' name, we can provide our children with a name that will offer them a measure of protection."

"And do you have proof that your mother was indeed from the magical branch of the Evans Family?"

"Yes, I have the birth certificates, marriage certificates, adoption certificates, and death certificates for the five most recent generations of my mother's family."

Azalea pulled out her grandfather's Hunter Portfolio, retrieved the documents in question, and made to stand up in order to pass the documents to the goblin. Kurapika's hand on her shoulder kept her in her seat as he snagged the documents out of her hand and handed them over in her place. The witch huffed and crossed her arms in annoyance but didn't make a big deal out of his actions as she knew he was only trying to look after her.

"All of these certificates appear to be valid copies," the goblin grudgingly admitted after he'd tested each certificate with a rune carved piece of jade that glowed green when it touched each piece of paper. They were interrupted at that point by a knock on the door and the goblin behind the desk scowled before he called out a curt, "Enter!"

A young female goblin wearing dark maroon robes and carrying a heavy satchel entered the room a second later. She paused briefly in surprise when she noted the two humans before she continued making her way to the desk. She then bowed to the goblin and spoke to him in gobbledygook for several minutes, all the while sneaking glances at Azalea and Kurapika.

"Miss Potter, please follow Healer Beestung into my private chambers so that she might examine you to determine the truth and accuracy of your pregnancy as well as determine the parentage of your unborn children. She will also need a small sample of Mr. Kurta's blood. While she is attending to you, I shall attend to matters with Mr. Kurta so that when you return we can finalize his claim; providing Healer Beestung confirms his status as the father of your children."

Azalea rose to her feet and reluctantly followed the female goblin through the door at the back of the office after the healer had collected a couple of drops of Kurapika's blood in a glass vial she pulled from her bag. She had not thought that she would be separated from Kurapika at any point and while she knew he could take care of himself and she trusted the goblin not to harm him, she was still worried about him being alone here in the magical world. The steady warmth radiating from her left earring coupled with a constant humming buzz helped calm her trepidation and she took a steadying breath as the door closed behind her. She then allowed herself to be directed into one of the stone chairs that sat around an exquisitely carved stone table in the center of the room while trying to ignore her still upset stomach.

"How far is baby?" Healer Beestung asked in broken English with a thick, throaty accent.

"How far…? I'm not sure I understand."

"When baby made?"

"Oh, you want to know how far along my pregnancy is," Azalea stated in understanding. "Five and a half months; the babies are five and a half months old now."

"You not look that far," Healer Beestung countered as she skeptically eyed Azalea's rather flat stomach.

Azalea smiled tightly as she explained, "I have been hiding my babies with a charmed corset."

"I need see test baby. Clothes off now."

Azalea blushed bright red as she climbed to her feet to comply with the expected order; the young witch long used to Madam Pomfrey demanding that she remove the corset during her sporadic check ups over the past few months. She was at least thankful that the goblin healer was female as she didn't think she'd feel comfortable partially undressing in front of an unknown male; doctor or not. She took off her dueling cloak first and laid it over the back of the chair before taking off the pants she was wearing. She then unzipped the corset and pulled it off next without bothering to take off either of her shirts or her underwear as she didn't quite feel comfortable enough to strip entirely.

Healer Beestung didn't seem to care that she'd not undressed completely as the female goblin walked up to her, pulled Azalea's shirt up just high enough to bare her abdomen, and placed her hands on Azalea's distended stomach. The goblin then began chanting in the guttural language of the goblins as she rubbed her hands in circles over Azalea's stomach and the young witch felt her stomach growing warm as the healer's magic seeped through her skin. She shivered over the invasion of foreign magic as it spread through her entire body but otherwise ignored it since she could sense that it meant her no harm.

Twenty minutes later, the goblin healer's magic withdrew from Azalea as the goblin ceased chanting and stilled her hands. Healer Beestung then dug into her bag and pulled out several crystal vials containing unfamiliar potions, a sealed jar, a needle, a roll of gauze, a jar of ink, a roll of parchment, a quill, and a large, empty, backless square frame made from jade. Three of the potion vials were immediately opened and lined up on the table before the healer poured the blood she'd collected from Kurapika into the first vial. She then gently guided Azalea back into the chair before she took the witch's right hand and jabbed the needle into her index finger deep enough to draw blood.

Azalea hissed at the sharp pain and instinctively tried to pull her hand away but Healer Beestung refused to release her as she moved the now bleeding digit over each of the vials in order to add several drops of Azalea's blood to each potion. The first potion frothed the moment her blood came into contact with it before it turned a murky blue-green in color, the second potion didn't appear to change at all, and the third potion changed from clear to a rainbow of colors as her blood was pulled down into the potion as if by an invisible current. At that point, Healer Beestung pressed a small square of gauze to Azalea's finger to stop the bleeding before she released the witch's hand in order to tend to the three potions.

The first potion was inspected closely before it was disposed of in a nearby rubbish bin. The healer tisked and clicked her tongue in irritation over the results of the second potion while muttering what sounded suspiciously like curses under her breath in gobbledygook. Azalea eyed the goblin with apprehension as she capped the third potion and shook it with far more force than the witch thought was necessary. That potion was then poured onto the roll of parchment and the parchment set off to one side to dry as the healer briefly returned her attention to the second potion before tossing it into the rubbish bin with another incomprehensible curse.

Next, the healer opened up one of the opaque jars she'd pulled from her bag and scooped out a large dollop of greenish-gray paste that she then spread over Azalea's belly in a thick layer. The cream was colder than ice as it was first applied but quickly warmed up as it clung to her skin. After coating her entire belly, the healer grabbed the jade frame and set it over the center of stomach where it molded itself to her skin and shifted it around for a moment until she was satisfied with the placement. Another potion was then poured directly into the open area of the frame and Azalea gasped in surprise when the potion revealed an image of the half-grown babies inside of her womb once it dried.

"Two baby, both boy," Healer Beestung announced after studying the image for several minutes as she pointed out the male genitalia clearly visible on the small potion screen. The healer then looked up and fixed Azalea with a stern look as she added, "One baby too many; two baby too much. You too small; two baby not have enough room. Two baby take too much and make sick. You too weak, fight too much, not sleep enough, and not eat right. You need rest more and eat right or all three die. Need stop sick up all time. No more fight. Stay off feet."

Azalea paled at the bluntness of the goblin healer and she tasted bile in the back of her throat as her stomach made an attempt to expel its contents. She'd known she'd have a hard time carrying both babies to term due to how small she was but it had never occurred to her that she might die alongside of her children due to how much the babies were taking out of her. She had also known that she'd eventually need to take it easy once she entered the final trimester but that was still a good month and a half away. The healer's words also added weight to Kurapika's sharp words from earlier and made her feel even more wretched that she hadn't put more effort into taking care of herself.

"Drink," Healer Beestung ordered as she pressed a vial of bright pink potion into Azalea's hand. "It help."

Long used to following the orders of healers and trusting the goblin not to mean her or her babies harm, Azalea drank the potion as ordered without any hesitation. Unlike most healing potions (which tasted horrible) this one tasted like strawberries with a chalky aftertaste (making it far easier to swallow) and it immediately quelled her churning stomach. Two more potions followed in rapid succession and a part of Azalea couldn't help but wonder why the goblin potions didn't taste anywhere near as horrible as the wizard made potions. Lastly, she was handed two more vials of the bright pink potion and told to drink one directly after each of her next meals.

Healer Beestung then removed the frame from Azalea's stomach and cleaned the remains of the two potions from her belly. Azalea was given permission to dress herself at that point and while she put her clothes back on; the healer filled the potion soaked parchment from earlier with gobbledygook. As she watched, the female goblin set aside her quill and placed the jade frame over the bottom half of the parchment and poured another vial of potion into the parchment inside of the frame and Azalea was amazed to see a moving image of her babies forming on the thick vellum.

"All done," Healer Beestung announced a moment later as she threw away the empty potion vials and packed everything else back into her bag.

Azalea followed the healer back into the other room at that point and slowly made her way back to Kurapika's side to sit back down while the female goblin approached the goblin behind the desk and handed him the parchment. The older goblin took ten minutes to read through the parchment before the two goblins held another long conversation in their native language regarding whatever it was that the healer had written down before the healer took her leave. The older male goblin then pierced Azalea with his sharp gaze for a long minute and the witch had to fight the urge to squirm.

"I shall have a copy of the medical report and Healer Beestung's instructions translated into English for you by the end of the day and will send it to you via Gringotts' hawk along with a week's supply of Mother's Helpmate. You'll receive another week's supply of the potion each Sunday afternoon until your children are born. Healer Beestung also requested that arrangements be made for her to meet with you once a week in order to monitor your pregnancy and your health for the duration of your pregnancy. If you have been regularly seeing a human healer, he or she will need to be present for the first such meeting."

"I will speak to Madam Pomfrey later this evening about setting aside the time to meet with the healer after our meeting with Professor McGonagall," Azalea stated with a slight frown. "I'm certain she would be willing to meet us here at the bank."

"There is no need for her to come to the bank; Healer Beestung is currently in the process of obtaining permission to make weekly house calls as well as soliciting the services of a translator in order to get around the language barrier. All we need from you is the address of your home and permission to portkey in through your wards."

"The house is currently under a Fidelius Charm; I will speak to the Secret Keeper and have one of my elves bring the address to you along with a pre-made, reusable portkey that is already keyed into the wards," Azalea replied; the witch refusing to let on that she was the Secret Keeper out of habit since no one outside those that were present when the Fidelius was cast knew she was the Keeper for her protection. "I will also send one of my elves to collect the copy of the medical report and the supply of potions because we have another two meetings to attend today."

"That would be acceptable; I will include the date and time of Healer Beestung's first visit along with the translation of the report. Have your elf meet me here in my office at five sharp," the goblin replied as he set the medical report off to one side and picked up a rather thick pile of parchment. "Healer Beestung has confirmed that you are pregnant and that Mr. Kurta is the father of your unborn children and all that remains is for you to sign the transference documents for both the Evans name and vaults (of which there are two – one in Ireland and one in Germany), Miss Potter."

Kurapika stepped forward to collect both the stack of documents and the blood quill that Azalea would need to sign them with and passed them to Azalea. The witch wandlessly conjured a small lap table and skimmed through each page of the parchment before signing and initialing in all of the appropriate places. Once she was finished, the entire stack was passed back to the goblin, who pulled out another larger stack of documents that Kurapika needed to sign this time. After that, the goblin announced that Kurapika's new identification documents (both muggle and magical) would be ready at the same time as Azalea's copy of her medical report.

"Shall we move onto the next order of business then?"

The next hour was spent finalizing all of Azalea's claims for the vaults and homes of the Death Eaters she had defeated as well as those that had been defeated by the Order of the Phoenix (since she was the elected leader of the vigilante organization). That included going over the distribution reports from the restoration and restitution vaults from the past seven days and the most recent requests for funding from various families and store owners. Another forty-five minutes were spent sorting through Azalea's finances and family properties in preparation for updating her will to include her unborn children and to update the will with Kurapika's new last name.

A process that involved transferring monies between various vaults in order to consolidate her liquid assets, signing the thirty-eight resulting empty vaults back to Gringotts, skimming through the various reports on the vaults that had been inventoried, and signing off on the payments for the items that had been cleaned of dark magic and those goblin made artifacts that she'd chosen to 'rent' to date including all four of the Founder's Artifacts still in existence (Gryffindor's Sword, Slytherin's Locket, Hufflepuff's Cup, and Rowena's Diadem).

Arrangements were made at the same time for all three of the former horcruxes to be repaired by goblins smiths before the three items along with Gryffindor's Sword were returned to Hogwarts for safekeeping and where they would be on display for present and future generations of young magicals.

After that, they drew up a marriage contract between Kurapika and Azalea; back dating the contract to her seventeenth birthday in order to prevent most people from looking too closely at the timing of their wedding. That included the transference of a large dowry from the Potter vaults to the Evans vault in Ireland in the form of ready cash and the deed for a small uncharted and magically hidden island near the Falkland Islands. When they finished finalizing those documents, they moved onto making arrangements to hire a team of warders to shore up and stabilize the ruins of Kurapika's former village, ward the entire area to protect the place from a second invasion, and help construct the new village that Kurapika wished to have built.

By the time they were finished with the paperwork, Healer Beestung had returned with an ancient goblin in tow. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes when she noted that Azalea was still in the office (and looking more than a little pale by now). The young female goblin then began scolding everyone in the office in an almost incomprehensible mix of English and gobbledygook. Her message was perfectly clear though; she was displeased that Azalea had spent over three hours in the bank signing an untold number of documents using a blood quill. She imperiously ordered a large lunch be provided for the young mother-to-be while plying the petite witch with another half dozen vials of potion.

Minky turning up with Azalea's lunch time nutrient potion saw the goblin healer taking the nanny elf off to one side to discuss Azalea's previous medical care, diet, and sleeping patterns. Azalea warily watched her only female elf solemnly bobbing her head in agreement with whatever it was the healer was saying while wondering if she should have given Healer Beestung permission to give instructions to her elf in regards to her diet and health. She also wished house elves didn't have an innate understanding of all languages (gobbledygook included) because she had no clue as to what the healer was telling her elf or what the elf had told the healer. Before the elf returned to her other duties, Azalea asked her to return to the bank at five to collect her medical report and other documents from the goblins.

Lunch consisted of an assortment of goblin delicacies that were surprisingly palatable if a touch bland. Most of the dishes offered were meat based but there were plenty of vegetables provided as well (though the vegetables were those that were found naturally in the tunnels or that were easily grown there such as potatoes, carrots, turnips, onions, and other roots and bulbs). The meal itself was rather unnerving for Azalea as everyone else in the room paid extra close attention to everything she ate with Kurapika and Healer Beestung encouraging and ordering her to eat everything that the healer had personally served her. She felt nothing but relief once the meal was over and their business for the day concluded.

"Good day, master goblin; it was an honor and a pleasure doing business with you once more," Azalea intoned as she and Kurapika rose to their feet and bowed to all three of the goblins present once enough time had passed after the meal to allow them to take their leave without appearing rude.

"Bonerage," the goblin corrected as he stood up in turn and offered his hand to both Azalea to Kurapika without any hesitation. "You and your mate have both earned the right to call me by my name, Miss Potter."

"I am honored, Master Bonerage," Azalea dazedly replied in response as Bill had told her that it was very rare for the higher ranked male goblins to give their names out to humans and even rarer for them to allow a female human to learn their name as goblins believed it weakened them to give their names out to beings they considered weak and beneath their notice.

Fawkes returned at that moment, the phoenix trilling a welcoming greeting to those in the room before he landed on Azalea's shoulder. The phoenix flamed the pair of them back to Grimmauld Place four minutes later so that they could collect Remus and Moody before heading to the Ministry of Magic to meet with Kingsley Shacklebolt. She took a moment to send Kreacher to Minister Shacklebolt in order to make certain he had time for her now. The elf was back three minutes later with the news that the Minister was ready and waiting for her in his office and that he'd given her permission to have Fawkes flash directly into his office.

Five minutes later, the four of them were standing in the middle of a large, tastefully yet conservatively decorated office facing a smiling Kingsley Shacklebolt who was rising out of his chair to greet them, "Good afternoon, Remus, Alastor, Miss Potter, and guest; I must admit that I have been anxiously waiting for a chance to finally meet with you, Miss Potter. I am well aware of your aversion to any attempts to use your and your fame for political maneuvering so before we get down to business, please know that I am not looking to merely use your face to promote my agenda."

"Good afternoon, Minister Shacklebolt; allow me to apologize for taking up so much of your time already," Azalea replied as she shook his hand while Fawkes settled down to nap on her shoulder. "Our meeting with the goblins this morning took longer to finalize that anticipated or we would have been here sooner. It is also a relief to know that you are not looking to use me in the same fashion that Fudge and Scrimgeour had hoped to use me. When Tonks first mentioned that you were looking to meet with me I am ashamed to admit that that was the first thought that crossed my mind."

"I won't hold it against you, Miss Potter; I was well acquainted with both Fudge and Scrimgeour and both of them were first and foremost politicians. Please, won't you all have a seat? And would you introduce me to the young man with you? I don't believe I recall seeing his face before."

"Before we get down to business and before I introduce my companion; could you please freeze all of the portraits and allow Moody to secure your office against all forms of eavesdropping?"

"Of course," Kingsley allowed after studying her for a nearly an entire minute.

Once the office was secure, Azalea hesitated for a brief moment as she knew once she introduced Kurapika and announced their upcoming nuptials that there would be no going back. A light touch on her elbow drew her attention to her fiancé and he gave her a reassuring smile to remind her that she wasn't alone. She gave him a smile in return before she took a deep breath and marshaled her Gryffindor courage before plunging in with both feet.

"Minister Shacklebolt, please allow me to introduce you to Kurapika Evans; my fiancé. Kurapika, this is Kingsley Shacklebolt; the interim Minister of Magic for all of wizarding Britain."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Evans," Kingsley stated as he shook Kurapika's hand before he turned his attention back to Azalea. "Fiancé? That is a surprising turn of events as I was not aware that you had broken off your relationship with the youngest Weasley son."

"I would really love to know exactly who it was that spread those rumors about me and my former friend. I never had a relationship with Ron outside of being his friend and never considered having one with him because I had thought of him as my brother right up until he displayed his true self. Right now, I'd love to hex the snot out of him and turn him into a eunuch for thinking that he had the right to claim me without my permission or knowledge."

"It was considered to be common knowledge amongst the original Order that you and Mr. Weasley were an item; a rumor that Molly wholeheartedly and enthusiastically assured us was fact. Molly will be heartbroken to learn that it was a false rumor; she was dead set on having you officially join the family as her daughter."

"That would explain Mr. Weasley's attempt to get me to reconcile with Ron and the others during Bill and Fleur's reception," Azalea mused with a small frown.

"I'm certain both Arthur and Molly only had your best interests at heart and they most likely saw your long friendship with their youngest son as leading to something more due to all of the adventures that you and your friends got into during the five years that you attended Hogwarts. I'm also certain they will understand and accept your choice to seek a relationship outside of their family. More importantly, allow me to offer the two of you my congratulations. Have you set a date for the wedding?"

"Yes, we'll be married at the end of the month on the thirty-first," Kurapika answered in Azalea's stead when she didn't immediately reply.

"That's only two weeks away," Kingsley stated with some surprise. "Is there a reason for the rush?"

"We've been engaged since my seventeenth birthday," Azalea explained as she passed Kingsley her copy of the marriage contract that they'd had drawn up while they were at Gringotts. "No announcements were made at the time in order to keep that information out of the hands of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. We had actually selected several potential dates for our nuptials with the understanding that we'd be married on the first available date after the threat that Voldemort represented was neutralized. So, while it appears that we are rushing things from an outside perspective, this has actually been planned for several months."

"Ah, that makes sense. Will you be posting an announcement in the Daily Prophet then?"

"Yes; the announcement will be in the Monday morning edition."

"Your announcement will be met with mixed feelings but I think on the whole it will be well received as the public will see it as proof that there is hope for the future," Kingsley carefully pointed out as he gave the pair of them a shrewd look.

"Yes, I know; which was one of the reasons we decided not to have the small, private wedding we originally wished to have because we knew that witches, wizards, and reporters would attempt to crash the wedding for the fame of being able to say that they were there or in the hopes of uncovering a scandal. We will be inviting a number of high ranked politicians, officials, dignitaries, and other important people for the same reason."

"Please allow me to offer you the services of the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement to provide security for you and your guests free of charge."

"What is it you want from Azalea in return for such a generous offer?"

Kingsley gave Kurapika a self-depreciating smile and a nod in acknowledgement of the blond's accurate assumption before he returned his attention to Azalea and replied, "In return, I would like you to attend a Ministry sponsored celebration of the defeat of Voldemort where you will be awarded with an Order of Merlin, First Class, for the defeat of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Ideally, the Ministerial Ball commemorating the defeat of the Dark Lord would take place the weekend prior to your upcoming nuptials in order to prevent your wedding from overshadowing the event."

"I will agree on the condition that you award each of the current forty-three members of the Order of the Phoenix, those that fought by my side over the last five months, an Order of Merlin as well. They deserve to be recognized just as much as I do because I could not have won the war in such a short time without them."

"The Order of Merlin can only be awarded to the witch or wizard that personally defeated a high level threat to our country; the greater the threat, the higher the class awarded. It is not that I don't want to reward those wizards and witches that fought alongside of you for the part they played in ending the war; it is that I am bound by ancient laws and oaths to only bestow such a high level award based upon the rules created at the time the award was created."

"Is there another award that you can give them so that they can receive the recognition that they deserve?"

"Not that I am aware of; however, there are other ways that I can honor them. Such as deputizing them as wartime aurors in order to protect them from legal repercussion that the living family members of any Death Eater that they killed during the course of the war might attempt to file and awarding them a reasonable sum of money to offset any losses they took financially during the war."

"Would you consider commissioning a statue slash memorial to honor Order of the Phoenix on top of that? It could be placed in the atrium of the Ministry to replace the Fountain of Magical Brethren that was destroyed at the end of my fifth year. A simple spiral staircase rising up out of the water with a phoenix perched upon a nest of flames at the top with the names of every single Order member, regardless of when they were in the Order, carved around the outside and the names of those who made important contributions engraved on the vertical sections of the steps and Dumbledore's name at the very top as the founder. The only name that shouldn't be listed would be Pettigrew's as he was a traitor."

"It would be years before the Ministry could afford to have something so extravagant made…" Kingsley regretfully protested despite how much interest he showed in the idea.

"I will anonymously donate the money for the statue to be built if you are willing to see to it that it is made and installed in the atrium where it will be viewed by employees and visitors alike," Azalea countered without any hesitation.

"Consider it done; I will see to it that it is built in time to be unveiled at the Ministry Ball a week from today."

"Then I guess that means I've yet another dress I will need to buy," Azalea groused with a petulant sigh that made the four men in the office with her chuckle in amusement. "Was there anything else you needed from me?"

"Just one more thing; are you still interested in pursuing a career as an auror?"

"No."

"Might I inquire as to why you changed your mind?"

"Tell me, Minister Shacklebolt, were you required to sign the International Treaty of Cooperation when you were sworn into office?"

"Yes; even though I am only acting Minister until the next election, I was required to sign all of the treaties and give all of the same oaths as those elected to the office. Why?"

Azalea fished out her Hunter's License from her cloak pocket where she always carried it and nudged Kurapika with her foot before flashing her card at him and jerking her head in the direction of the Minister. Kurapika nodded in agreement and dug out his card as well and the two of them held them up together so that the temporary leader of wizarding Britain could see the logos on the card.

"My soon to be husband and I are both full-fledged Hunters, Minister Shacklebolt," Azalea explained as the dark skinned man paled a bit over that minor revelation. "I am a Dark Wizard Hunter and Kurapika is a Blacklist Hunter; basically meaning that we both hunt down criminals and potential threats in order to protect innocent lives and maintain order. So, you could say that I already have a job."

"That's why Scrimgeour stopped seeking you out after he spoke to you at Dumbledore's funeral."

"Yes. I threatened him because he attempted to order, threaten, bully, and bribe me into being his poster child so that he could appear as if he was doing something about Voldemort and his minions when he was essentially doing nothing. I hope that you and I can have a far more amiable working relationship as I will be the Association's representative in all matters pertaining to the wizarding world and the Association is very concerned about the current state of the wizarding world at the moment due to the last three or four administrations failing to adhere to the full terms of the treaty."

"Zalea, dear, it might be beneficial for you to be sworn in as an auror," Kurapika interjected in the slightly tense silence that followed Azalea's reply. "Signing on with the Ministry as a reserve or part time officer would provide you with a cover during your dealings with the Ministry of Magic in the future. It would also allow you to get to know the next generation of magical law enforcement officers and other departmental employees so that you will know who you can trust to work with you if another dark wizard crops up at any point in the future. The extra training you would be given to prepare you for the job probably wouldn't hurt either."

"Auror training takes three years to complete," Azalea pointed out as she frowned at Kurapika while giving his idea and supporting arguments due consideration.

"One year; I've already passed a new initiative through the Wizengamot to reduce the number of years required to pass though the training program and lower the mandatory N.E.W.T. scores necessary for being accepted into the auror program in order to bolster our ranks since we did lose a number of aurors over the past two years. That the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had been understaffed prior to Voldemort's return didn't do us any favors either. After an intense year of training, all new aurors would then be assigned to shadow an experienced auror for a minimum of two years and take weekend classes to learn the laws and procedures that the department is required to follow; which they normally would have learned through the training program."

"All you would need to qualify for the new program is a passing N.E.W.T. in Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, and one in either Herbology or Care of Magical Creatures; since aurors are often called on to assist the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and they frequently encounter a number of violent plants when dealing with some of the more paranoid members of our society. I know you received nothing less than an Exceeds Expectations in all six of those subjects on your O.W.L.s so it shouldn't be too difficult for you to get the required scores on your N.E.W.T.s."

"I'll consider it," Azalea stated after a few moments. "I doubt I'll make a decision before I take my N.E.W.T.s and I am not certain if I'll be sitting the exams at Hogwarts with the rest of the seventh years in June or if I will need to make arrangements with the Wizarding Examinations Authority to take them separately. I'll be addressing that matter with Professor McGonagall this evening."

"If you are unable to take them in June with the rest of the Hogwarts students, for any reason, let me know and I will see to that arrangements are made through the Department of Magical Education for you to take them here at the Ministry at your earliest convenience," Kingsley promised without missing a beat now that he'd recovered his aplomb.

"Thank you for the offer, Minister Shacklebolt," Azalea replied as she climbed to her feet and offered her hand to the man once more, "and for everything else. I will send a notice of authorization to Gringotts to let the goblins know that I will be covering the cost of the new fountain for the Ministry; just have the individual or company you hire to create the memorial send the bill to the bank."

"No thanks are needed, Miss Potter; it was the least I can do after all that you've done for the wizarding world these past five months. I will see to it that a copy of the bill for the statue makes it way into your hands as well. I intend to make an announcement regarding the upcoming Ministry Ball at the press conference I am holding this evening so you can expect the news about the Ball to be in tomorrow morning's paper. I will also have invitations for the current members of the Order of the Phoenix sent to you so that they can be distributed quickly and efficiently. Please, do not hesitate to contact me if you need anything."

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**AN: **_I had someone ask me if this story was almost finished because I've already destroyed Voldemort and the answer is no. I still have to wrap up the wizarding side of things but there's also a few events from the HxH side that will come into play. So, I'd say this story is roughly half finished... or something like that. _**  
**

_Anyway, chap 28 was just replaced again since I'd forgotten to fix my French but as usual there's no real need to go back and re-read the entire chapter as I didn't make any other changes. I'll be tossing chap 42 up tomorrow and possibly chap 43 on Monday; depends on whether or not I get side tracked by the chapter I've nearly finished writing for Unbound Soul (which is what prevented me from posting last night). ~ Jenn_


	42. Moments x of x Truth

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Forty-Two: Moments x of x Truth

Fawkes dropped the quartet back in the War Room just a few minutes later and Azalea sighed wearily as she curled up into the nearest chair. It had been a long morning and while her meeting with the Minister hadn't taken as long as she'd expected it to, it had taken far more out of her simply because of the tension she'd felt from the moment she'd arrived in his office. It probably would have been ten times worse if the new Minister had been anyone other than Kingsley since she at least knew that Kingsley was both honorable and trustworthy.

He was also a former member of the Order of the Phoenix.

The only reason why Kingsley had not been a part of the Order under Azalea's leadership was because he had been assigned to protect the muggle Prime Minister at the end of Azalea's fifth year in the event that Voldemort attempted to control or assassinate the man in order to gain control of the muggle government or sew chaos amongst the muggles. He had also done his best to keep tabs on those aurors that had either quit their job or been forced out of the Ministry after Scrimgeour's assassination so that they could be rallied to fight back against the dark forces under Voldemort while Robards kept track of those that were still in the Ministry.

"I've got things I need to do," Moody growled as he stomped towards the door the moment he regained his footing. "I'll see the lot of you in the morning."

The moment the grizzled ex-auror was gone; Remus turned to Kurapika and calmly inquired, "Since when is your last name Evans?"

"Since I let him claim my great-grandfather's name and vaults this morning," Azalea tiredly explained as she folded her arms over the arm of her chair, dropped her head onto her arms, and closed her eyes. "Too many people associate the Scarlet Eyes with the Kurta Clan and we didn't want to paint targets on our children's heads."

"The Potter name has just as big of a target attached to it; so, to protect our family it is safer for us to use a different name instead. I had a legitimate claim to the Evans line as one of three last living descendants of Papa Greg. Some people might argue that Aunt Petunia was entitled to inherit first because she was mum's older sister but I actually had the stronger claim because mum was the only daughter of Gregory's oldest son before she was adopted by her uncle."

"Ah, that is actually a smart decision. It is sad to know that the Potter name will disappear but that would have happened no matter who you married since you had no brothers and James had no siblings. It just caught me off guard when you introduced him to the Minister as an Evans when I knew that was your mother's maiden name. I also wasn't aware that your mother had a vault in Gringotts aside from the one she shared with your father after they were married."

"She didn't; Papa Greg was a pureblood wizard whose family was originally from Ireland before his father moved to Germany and Papa Greg's widow ended up migrating to England with their two sons after he was personally killed by Grindelwald in forty-three. From what I understand, my granduncle was actually a squib unlike my grandfather despite the fact that they were fraternal twins. So, technically, mum was either a halfblood or a pureblood since I don't know if my grandfather married a witch or a muggle; that information wasn't provided on any of the family certificates that I found amongst the things that Dumbledore left to me."

"One of these days we're going to have to sit down and discuss just where it is you've learned all of the things you know about your family since most of what you've told me is not common knowledge; especially considering the fact that I'm pretty certain that neither of your parents were aware of even half of the stuff you've told me. And why am I only just now learning about the marriage contract that the two of you supposedly signed back on your birthday?"

"That was drawn up this morning as well but back dated to my birthdate in order to prevent anyone from turning our wedding into a scandalous affair due to the apparent rush. Having a valid, six month old marriage contract will also make it impossible for anyone attempting to stop our wedding by claiming Kura dosed me with love potions since Gringotts always tests both parties of a marriage contract for the presence of mind altering potions and spells when there is old money involved because it is required by the treaty they signed with the Ministry."

"I suppose I can't blame you for taking precautions but a little advance warning the next time you decide to go around dropping bombshells would be appreciated. For now though, I have a very pregnant wife that I need to check on least she hex me in unmentionable places for not being available to fulfill her every whim."

Azalea snickered softly in amusement as she opened her eyes just enough to watch the old werewolf scamper out of the room. She'd have to remember to tease him about being a properly trained house-mutt the next time he teased her about Kurapika or her animagus forms. After a moment, her soft laughter trailed off as she let out a sigh and closed her eyes once more as she felt her exhaustion weighing down on her.

"You're looking rather pale, kitten; are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine, Kura; just a little tired."

"Meaning you're exhausted beyond words," Kurapika retorted with fond exasperation as he walked up and scooped her up into his arms. "Come on, I'll carry you up to our room and you can take a nap until it is time for us to leave."

Azalea opened her mouth to protest out of habit but closed it again without saying a word as Healer Beestung's assertion from earlier came back to haunt her; _you need rest more and eat right or all three die_. She shivered as icy fingers trailed up her spine at the thought of dying alongside her unborn children. It wasn't that she was afraid of dying, she knew death was nothing to fear; it was the mere thought of condemning her babies to death before they were even born that terrified her. She also had no desire to leave Kurapika now that she no longer had the prophecy hanging over her head.

"Zalea…?" Kurapika inquired softly as he paused halfway up the first flight of stairs.

Azalea cringed a bit before she sighed and dropped her head onto his shoulder as she hedged, "I was just reminded of something that the healer told me earlier."

"And that was…?" Kurapika asked as he continued walking.

"I'd rather not discuss it while standing in the middle of the house; the walls, quite literally, have ears here."

Kurapika stopped again as he glanced down at Azalea in an attempt to determine whether or not she was joking and she pointed a finger at the portrait of an ancient wizard that was hanging on the wall beside the stairs instead of giving him a verbal explanation. The wizard in the painting was pretending to snore loudly while he kept twitching and angling his head towards them as if to better hear them.

Kurapika blinked at the picture before he snorted over the oddness of having to worry about paintings listening into his conversations and gossiping about what they overheard with other paintings. Azalea giggled softly in response to his reaction to the portrait and the concept of the portraits being an effective gossip vine or spy network.

Far too soon for Azalea's peace of mind, Kurapika was setting her down on the edge of the bed before he helped her out of her shoes while she shrugged off her cloak. Azalea then crawled beneath the covers at Kurapika's insistence and two minutes later her head was pillowed on Kurapika's lap as he sat up against the headboard. The feel of his fingers running through her hair as he undid her braid was heavenly and she couldn't help the soft humming purr she let out as his fingers massaged her scalp as they gently untangled the knots that had worked their way into her unruly hair.

"Will you tell me what the healer told you now, Azalea?"

"She basically told me the same thing you told me earlier; that I need to take better care of myself and that I need to eat more and stay off my feet as much as possible," Azalea began in a measured tone as she concentrated on her memory of the goblin healer's cryptic statements and instructions that had been delivered in broken English.

"That's not what's bothering you though, is it?"

"You know, there are times when your perceptiveness is extremely annoying… but you are right; that wasn't the part that was bothering me. The fact that she didn't really speak English all that well made it a bit difficult to understand her at times but she knew enough to get her message across."

"And that message was?"

"She told me that my body is too small and too weak to handle the dual pregnancy; that the babies are taking far too much from me," Azalea answered in a small voice that was filled with a thread of fear. "She also came right out and told me that if I don't get enough rest and start eating better (and keep what I eat in my stomach long enough for it to do me any good) that… that I'd not only lose the babies but that I'd die as well."

Kurapika's fingers stilled as he sucked in a sharp breath that he let out slowly before his fingers began moving once more as he calmly stated, "She only said that the three of you were at risk _if_ you didn't start taking better care of yourself right now; meaning that as long as you eat properly, get plenty of rest, and stay off your feet as much as possible from this point forward, then you should not have to worry. That certainly explains why she was scolding all three of us when she returned to the office with the translator in tow. That also explains why she wants to meet with the healer that's been taking care of you up until this point; I'm almost certain she'll take the other healer to task over your current condition."

"It's not exactly Madam Pomfrey's fault that I pushed myself and I couldn't exactly see her regularly without someone getting suspicious about why I'd need to see her so often."

"That's no excuse for her not making certain you got the rest you needed or why she didn't provide you with something to help with the morning sickness. You can't tell me that witches haven't come up with an assortment of potions that will relieve the more critical and life threatening symptoms of pregnancy for cases like yours where the morning sickness is so severe that you have been losing weight."

"She said there was nothing to give me for the morning sickness but she did provide me with several doses of a sleeping potion that was supposed to help me sleep easier but the one time I actually drank one before I went to sleep, I threw up two hours later and felt absolutely horrible all night long so I never bothered with them again. And after Halloween, when we'd found the last of the scattered horcruxes, I spent far less time out fighting in order to conserve my energy."

"Azalea, even muggle doctors have come up with ways to effectively reduce or eliminate morning sickness; Dr. Mackle administered intravenous doses of one such treatment for each day that you were in his care."

"Muggle doctors use stitches to seal gashes while there are spells and potions that can do the same thing and leave less of a scar in most cases," Azalea reminded him as she closed her eyes. "There are benefits in both types of healing but that doesn't mean they've both come up with the same ways to treat the same injury or illness. There are potions that stop nausea but they could very well harm the babies because of the ingredients or the magic involved."

"Let's say that is true… why haven't you thrown up again today? Yesterday could be explained away as you still being under the influence of the most recent dose of the anti-nausea medication that Dr. Mackle gave to you but it is only effective for roughly eighteen to twenty hours (which is why is was administered daily). So, you should have been sick all day today according to what you told me previously regarding your morning sickness. And yet, aside from that first time this morning; you've not thrown up once. Why?"

"I… I don't know. I started to feel sick just before Healer Beestung arrived the first time and I almost threw up just after she told me I had to take better care of myself or risk losing the babies and dying but…"

"But what?"

"She gave me the bright pink potion and told me to drink it because it would help. She didn't say what it would help but after I drank it I no longer felt like I had to throw up."

"So, Madam Pomfrey told you there was nothing she could do about your morning sickness but Healer Beestung cured it with a single potion that immediately soothed your stomach. What does that tell you?"

"That the goblin healers may have a cure for morning sickness that they don't necessarily share with witches and wizards except in certain situations or Madam Pomfrey lied to me. It's also possible that Madam Pomfrey personally can't make or provide the potion because she'd have immediately come under the scrutiny of Snape or it might require a prescription to purchase it from an apothecary which would have alerted someone to the fact that I was pregnant and Madam Pomfrey said nothing about it because she knew I didn't want to bring attention to my pregnancy."

"I had not considered any of those possibilities outside of Madam Pomfrey potentially lying to you. We can ask her why she didn't tell you about that potion when we inform her that Healer Beestung would like her to be present during your next check-up. For now, I think I've kept you up talking long enough; close your eyes and get some rest love. I will wake you up around a quarter till five so you'll have enough time to get ready to go before we need to leave."

Azalea sighed softly and snuggled into Kurapika's stomach as her arms came up to wrap around his waist before she murmured a tired, "Yes, mother."

"Cheeky brat."

Azalea simply snickered as she let her exhaustion pull her down into sleep.

The three hour nap was no where near long enough as far as Azalea was concerned when Kurapika woke her up just before five o'clock. She'd have gladly slept the night away but there were two things stopping her; first was the fact that she needed to eat supper and second was the knowledge that McGonagall was expecting her and one did not stand up Professor McGonagall unless they were dying and even then they'd better have a damn good excuse for dying on her time.

Once she straightened up her clothes, replaced her shoes and cloak, and redid her hair, Azalea had Fawkes take the two of them to Hogwarts. The phoenix dropped them off beside Dumbledore's tomb before he flew off to explore the frozen school grounds that had been his home for decades. Azalea watched him fly off towards the forest before she turned her attention to the pristine white tomb. She noted that the lily she'd left for Professor Dumbledore was still present and still looking just as fresh as it had on the day she'd placed it beside the tomb.

She took a moment to greet Dumbledore and introduced Kurapika before she strengthened the Nen based enchantments she'd placed on the flower and the vase so they wouldn't fail. She then led her fiancé towards the castle as she pointed out various places of interest to Kurapika as they slowly trudged through the snow towards the castle; taking care to point out the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid's cabin, the Quidditch Pitch, the Whomping Willow, and the greenhouses.

Half way to the castle, Kurapika had Azalea climb onto his back when it became obvious that she was having trouble walking through the snow. Azalea bit back any complaints she might have voiced due to the fact that she knew she was still tired and she really didn't want to walk through the snow. They were met at the door by a cheerful Filius Flitwick who was there to escort them to McGonagall's office and Azalea slipped down off Kurapika's back with a soft thank you before she greeted the diminutive professor.

When Professor Flitwick led them straight for the main staircase, Azalea groaned softly as she recalled just how many flights of stairs needed to be climbed to reach Professor McGonagall's office. Kurapika let out an impressed whistle at the same time as he stared up at the moving staircases before he swept Azalea off her feet (proving he'd heard her groan) and headed up the stairs after the short wizard.

As they traveled up the five flights of stairs to reach Professor McGonagall's on the fifth floor, Azalea made certain to warn Kurapika about the trick steps so that he wouldn't get caught in one of them. She also repeatedly told the portraits to mind their own business each time they scolded the pair for 'goofing' around on the stairs or imperiously ordered Kurapika to set her down due to the inappropriateness of him holding her so intimately. Professor Flitwick escorted them right up to Professor McGonagall's door before he bid them a good evening and headed back down to the Great Hall.

Kurapika set her back down on her feet at that point and Azalea took a moment to straighten out her clothes before she knocked on the door. They were given permission to enter the room just seconds later and Azalea took a deep breath to steady her nerves before she opened the door and stepped inside of the familiar office with Kurapika on her heels. Professor McGonagall rose from her desk as they entered the room and the stately witch pressed her lips together as she critically ran her eyes over Azalea before she smiled and swept the younger witch up into her arms.

"It does this old witch good to see you made it through the war in one piece, Miss Potter," Professor McGonagall stated as she let go of her and held her at arms length once more. "Though I do wish it had not cost you so much. Do sit down, child; you're looking far too pale, dear. Were you injured in your fight against You-Know-Who? Should you even be out of the Infirmary? Shall I call Madam Pomfrey to come take a look at you?"

"I'm fine, Professor McGonagall; just a little tired still. No, I wasn't injured in my fight with Tom; mostly just exhausted to the core. And no, you don't need to call Madam Pomfrey; I already know what is wrong with me and I will see her before I leave as I need to make arrangements to meet with her next week sometime. What is happening with Hogwarts? I heard that they closed the school and there are rumors that some of the students had been tortured…"

"It was a difficult first term for the children, what with the Carrows and Avery teaching classes. If not for Severus doing his level best to keep the Death Eaters in check it would have been far worse. The rest of the staff protected the students as best we could but I am ashamed to admit that there was only so much we could do least we were thrown out of the castle and replaced with other Death Eaters; leaving the students with far less protection. The sixth and seventh years did far more to protect the younger students and we helped them in any way we could by turning a blind eye to their rule breaking and providing healing potions, food, or extra tutoring when it wouldn't be noticed."

"The school was closed within hours of You-Know-Who's death in order to get the students the healing they need and so that we can replace four teachers. That also allows us time to seek out the muggleborns that were forced to flee for their lives and let them know that they are free to return to Hogwarts once more. We hope to reopen on the first of February but it is looking more and more like we will be forced to wait until the first of March with how long it is taking to get everything reorganized. There's also a matter of funding; we lost a considerable amount of revenue this year due to the muggleborns being chased out and a number of halfbloods leaving the country."

"Speak to the goblins at Gringotts; I made arrangements for the majority of the money from the vaults I claimed over the last four months to be given back to the community in order to help everyone get back on their feet and part of that money was set aside for Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and St. Mungo's," Azalea interjected as a small frown tugged the corners of her mouth down. "I'm surprised they didn't contact you about that sooner."

"The goblins will most likely wait until a new school head has been sworn into office before they contact the school in regards to the funding since I don't have the authority to officially act on behalf of the school as acting Headmistress and the reinstated original members of the Board of Governors have not yet shown any sign of coming to a decision; another reason why the reopening of the school might be delayed. Are those funds the reason you wished to request permission to use the castle grounds? Are you planning on holding a large press conference to make an announcement regarding those funds? And are you ever going to introduce me to the young man hovering behind you?"

"No, I'm not planning on holding a press conference; though my name will be appearing in the papers quite often for the foreseeable future. Yes, I will introduce my companion but before I do, could you please chase all of the portraits out and raise a few privacy wards around your office so that we may speak freely?"

"Is that really necessary?"

"Absolutely."

"Very well then, Miss Potter," Professor McGonagall stated after studying Azalea's face for a long moment. The older witch then addressed the various painted individuals in the room next, "All portraits in this room will need to vacate their current frames for the duration of the evening." Once all of the frames were emptied, McGonagall sealed the office with a number of privacy wards that Azalea easily recognized and a few she didn't. "Now, Miss Potter; kindly explain why you feel it necessary to display a level of paranoia on par with that of Alastor Moody?"

"You mean aside from the fact that there are a number of individuals out there that are not pleased about the fact that the Dark Lord has been defeated again (hopefully permanently this time) and there is a high probability that their children are still in the castle?" Azalea asked dryly as Professor McGonagall had the grace to look a bit sheepish for not taking that possibility into account before asking her question. "Paranoia aside, there are several things we wish to discuss with you and I have no desire for certain information to fall into the hands of the rumor mill here at Hogwarts before it is officially announced through the Daily Prophet."

Azalea then reached back to grab Kurapika's hand and pulled him out from behind her chair (where he'd been hovering protectively over her instead sitting down in one of the other available chairs) so that she could introduce him, "That said, Professor McGonagall, please allow me to introduce you to my fiancé; Kurapika Evans. Kura, this is Professor Minerva McGonagall, Professor of Transfiguration, Gryffindor's Head of House, former Deputy Headmistress, and current acting Headmistress of Hogwarts."

"It is an honor to meet you, Professor McGonagall; Zalea spoke of you often and with great fondness during our months of training together," Kurapika stated as he offered the stern witch a polite bow.

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Evans," Professor McGonagall replied as she inclined her head in return. She then frowned in confusion as she asked, "Are you by any chance related to Lily Potter née Evans?"

"No, I'm not in any way related to Zalea's mother, Professor McGonagall."

"I did not think Lily had any other living relatives aside from her sister but I felt compelled to ask since you share her maiden name," Professor McGonagall murmured before she studied the couple over the top of her glasses for a moment; her eyes lingering on their linked hands as Azalea had yet to let go of Kurapika's hand. She then smiled warmly as she offered, "Congratulations on your pending nuptials. I am relieved to hear that the rumors of a serious relationship between you and the youngest Weasley boy were just that; rumors."

"I personally have nothing against the lad but young Ronald would have made a poor match for you. He would have held you back and held you down out of the fear that you'd surpass him. He has great potential but unfortunately he is far too insecure to accept a woman that will forever outshine him because he is far too lazy to work for the recognition he craves. I expect that Molly will be greatly disappointed when she learns of your engagement but I did warn her not to put too much stock in the rumors floating around."

McGonagall paused a moment to beam at them before she asked, "Would the public event you wish to hold on the castle grounds be related to your recent engagement?"

"We've actually been engaged since Zalea's seventeenth birthday but we chose to keep our relationship a secret in order to prevent the Death Eaters from seeking me out to use me against her," Kurapika corrected automatically.

"Yes, we'd like to rent the castle and grounds for our wedding," Azalea answered after Kurapika finished. "I saw Hogwarts as my first home from the moment I first laid eyes upon the castle. When Kura asked me where I wanted to have our wedding, the first and only place that came to mind was Hogwarts because of that and I could not imagine any other place in the wizarding world more suiting than the castle. It is also one of the few places I could think of that would be able to accommodate the large number of guests that we will be expected to invite because of who I am and in the hopes that we don't offend any high ranking officials that could make our lives miserable later down the line."

"I can't imagine that you are pleased with turning what should be a private moment into a three-ring circus," Professor McGonagall insightfully stated as she pursed her lips.

"It's either give the public what they will demand or have our private ceremony crashed by unruly fans and bloodthirsty reporters eager to dig up a scandal of epic proportions."

"True. I don't see any problem with allowing you to use the castle grounds this summer…"

"We'll need them a little sooner than that, Professor McGonagall," Kurapika interjected before the witch could finish her sentence. "We are planning to be married on the thirty-first of this month."

"That is in two weeks; I'm certain you've been asked this at least once by anyone else you've told; but why are the two of you in such a hurry?"

"We've been engaged for months now, Professor…"

"I don't care how long you have been engaged or how long you have known each other; those are not reasons for the two of you to be married within two weeks of announcing your engagement," Professor McGonagall shrewdly pointed out as she leveled a stern glare at the two of them over the top of her glasses. "I am not some empty headed ninny without so much as a pair of thoughts to rub together, so please do not take me as such. Now, why are the two of you in such a hurry to be married when you are both so young? Or should I just come right out and ask when the child is due?"

The blood drained from Azalea's face and she couldn't help but bury her face in her free hand as shame filled her in response to the disappointment she had heard in the older witch's voice. Tears burned at the back of her eyes and a large part of her wished she could just crawl away and hide. She tried to tug her other hand free from Kurapika's but he refused to let go as he crouched down beside the chair and brought her hand up to his face to press a kiss to their intertwined fingers.

"Kitten…?" Kurapika asked softly and Azalea lifted her face just enough to meet his concerned gaze over top of her fingers. He reached out with his free hand and gently brushed away the single tear that had broken free with his thumb before he leaned forward to kiss her forehead as he murmured, "Everything will be just fine, kitten."

Kurapika then stood up and placed himself in front of Azalea, blocking her from Professor McGonagall's view as he addressed the older woman in a hard voice filled with suppressed anger, "I'll thank you not to use that tone when you are addressing my future wife, she's been under more than enough stress as it is; fighting a war that never should have been her responsibility in the first place and she doesn't need you adding to the guilt she is already feeling. Azalea has done nothing wrong and after everything she has sacrificed, you have no right to take her to task for the choices she made at a time when a life after the war for her was far from guaranteed."

"I also fully expect you to give Azalea your sworn oath that you will not speak of our unborn children to anyone that is not already aware of their existence. I will not allow anyone from your society to hurt her any more than they already have and that includes allowing rumors to spread about the babies that she is carrying. She doesn't need the added stress of having to defend herself against slanderous accusations from those that would look down on her for her choices when her health is already poor enough that it has placed her life and the lives of our sons at risk."

"I apologize; I had not intended to make it sound as if I was accusing Miss Pot… Harriet of anything," Professor McGonagall replied in a quiet, no-nonsense voice. "I was merely disappointed that the two of you thought you could pull the wool over my eyes. I have been a professor at this institution for over forty years and I have learned a thing or two about reading people in general and children in particular; helped in no small part by my family inheritance and my animagus form. Harriet has always held a very special place in my heart as the daughter of two rather exceptional young magicals that were very dear to me and as such, I have always paid close attention to Harriet's moods and health."

There was a long drawn out silence and Azalea made to lean around Kurapika only to stop when Kurapika squeezed the hand he still held in a silent order for her to wait and she bit her lip as she reluctantly complied. After another couple of minutes, Professor McGonagall continued speaking.

"I knew within the first week of her first year that Harriet had had a hard life with those _people_ and I tried to tell Albus but he insisted that Harriet had been safe, if not exactly happy or loved. I argued with him many times but he was always deflecting my concerns with well meaning assurances that she would be fine and that he was taking care of everything. Albus was an easy man to trust because he was an intelligent and powerful wizard. When he spoke, people listened to him because he was charismatic, confident, and commanding; three traits that gave his words weight and meaning. And so, I allowed his words to sooth my concerns just enough for me to hold my tongue but not enough that I ever stopped watching Harriet."

"I made certain that she had something to smile about; be it Quidditch, a few undisturbed hours of research in the library after curfew, or that her unsupervised and unsanctioned club went unnoticed for as long as possible. I also gave subtle hints to her friends when they proved rather unobservant; such as reminding Mr. Weasley to ask his parents to pick up holiday gifts for his friends each year or prompting Mr. Granger to research the properties of Murtlap Essence. After five years of observing young Harriet in all of her moods and through the various stages of healing each time she was injured, it has become second nature for me to read her current state of emotion and accurately diagnose her current health with naught but a glance."

"I may not have been there to observe all of the changes she underwent over the course of the last eighteen or nineteen months but that doesn't mean that I didn't notice said changes or that she changed enough to prevent me from accurately reading her. As such, I've known Harriet was pregnant since August; when she came to sit for her sixth year exams. At the time, I was certain that one of the Weasley twins was the father of her child and so said nothing since both boys were actively watching over her and taking care of her."

"I had hoped the infrequent trips Poppy was taking out of the castle meant that Harriet was being looked after health wise. I will admit to focusing most of my attention on the school and my students out of necessity once the term started and trusted others to keep a watch over Harriet. The scant few times I saw Harriet in the castle over the past four months, I attributed her declining health mostly to stress on top of the pregnancy and assumed that Poppy would address the issue if at any point Harriet or her child was in any real danger."

"Lily went through a similar decline when she was pregnant with Harriet due to her insistence on remaining active in You-Know-Who's first uprising. It wasn't until James put his foot down around Lily's sixth month of pregnancy and forced her to take refuge here at Hogwarts that Lily actually took a less active role in the war. Lily recovered rapidly once she began taking it easy; of course, Lily was only carrying one wee bairn and according to your earlier statements, Harriet is actually carrying more than one child."

"If you knew she was pregnant, why didn't you ever speak to her about it?" Kurapika asked in a much less hostile tone.

"I did not wish to draw attention to her condition when so many people were already hunting her for other reasons; the castle walls have ears and eyes, young man, and a good number of them have feet and mouths."

"It is still weird to think of paintings being capable of spying and gossiping."

"It took me years to get used to the idea of living portraits," Azalea pointed out a little hesitantly as she gave a gentle tug on Kurapika's hand in a silent request for him to step aside now. He glanced back over his shoulder at her before he acquiesced, though he didn't go very far and he still refused to release her hand. "And that was despite the fact that I was surrounded by talking and walking art day in and day out nine and a half months out of the year."

"Stand up for a moment, Harriet dear, and let me transfigure that old chair into something more comfortable," Professor McGonagall insisted as she drew her wand once more.

Kurapika scooped Azalea up into his arms before she could rise and he held her out of the way as McGonagall transformed the stiff wooden chair into an overlarge and cushy armchair that was almost long enough to be classified as a love seat with more than enough room for Kurapika and Azalea to sit comfortably side by side. Kurapika arched an eyebrow at the older witch before he threw propriety out the door and sat down in the chair while settling Azalea comfortably on his lap.

Professor McGonagall's lips twitched with amusement and Azalea blushed as she muttered dire promises involving a proper hexing in tender places that had the blond chuckling in amusement as he gently hugged her close.

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**AN: **_This chapter is mostly to show the differences between canon McGonagall and DxWxH's McGonagall; specifically noting McGonagall's trust in Dumbledore, her observations of Azalea's first five years at Hogwarts, and what she did to indirectly help Azalea and the other students over the years. The next chapter will pick up from where this one left off and should be up tomorrow. ~ Jenn  
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	43. Accusations x and x Explanations

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Forty-Thee: Accusations x and x Explanations

The pair spent another hour talking to Professor McGonagall about the babies, the wedding, Azalea's schooling and N.E.W.T. Exams, and the Victory Ball that the Ministry would be holding. The three of them then spent a pleasant hour over supper exchanging stories; Kurapika sharing a few stories of his life growing up, Azalea sharing how she'd met the blond, and McGonagall sharing stories about Azalea's parents during their school years. The two teens also revealed their status as Hunters to the stately witch after she'd given them her oath that she'd share none of what she learned with another.

Professor McGonagall had then spoken of the Gilded Juggernaut that fought during the Grindelwald years; the Hunter that had given rise to the fear with which all magicals treated Hunters due to the fact that he never hesitated to kill the dark witches and wizards he faced. A man the wizarding world also knew only as Hunter Firebrand. Azalea had then shocked McGonagall as she informed the older witch that the man she was referring to was actually both a wizard and her great-grandfather; Gregory Evans.

McGonagall had pursed her lips after that and said that it was obvious that Azalea and her mother had both inherited their grandfather's temper (something that had amused both teens).

After the meal, Kurapika reminded her to take the pink potion she'd been given while Professor McGonagall got up to Floo Madam Pomfrey with a request for the healer to join her in her office to save Azalea the walk through the chilly castle and so that she could have far more privacy than she would have in the Hospital Wing. While they were waiting for the witch to join them, Kurapika studied his fiancée closely in order to gauge just how much the evening had tired her out so far. He couldn't help but smile when the young witch in question willingly snuggled back up against his chest now that their meal was over.

"What can I help you with, Minnie…?" Madam Pomfrey began as she shook the ashes from her healer's robes only to cut off when she noticed Azalea sitting curled up on Kurapika's lap in front of Professor McGonagall's desk. "Good evening, Miss Potter; I had not expected to see you this evening."

"Hello, Madam Pomfrey," Azalea replied as she lifted her head from Kurapika's shoulder and glanced towards the matronly witch. "I would have sent word ahead to warn you that I would be here but I had not originally planned to seek you out this evening. However, the healer I met with this morning requested your presence when I meet with her next and since we'd already made arrangements to meet with Professor McGonagall this evening, I figured I could stun two birds with one spell and speak with you before we left. I do hope we didn't pull you away from anything important."

"That's quite alright, child, my patients are all settled for the evening so you have not pulled me away from anything too pressing bar an unwelcome stack of unfinished paperwork. Am I to take it you have finally decided to arrange for regular visits to St. Mungo's for timely check-ups now that the Dark Lord is no longer a threat?"

"No, the goblins arranged for one of their healers to monitor Azalea's pregnancy because she was fast approaching the point where both her life and the lives of our children were both in danger of being lost due to the fact that she'd been losing weight steadily as a result of a poor diet that was the direct result of severe morning sickness," Kurapika answered in Azalea's place, his voice clipped and cold as he addressed the healer without glancing at her; part of him blaming the healer for Azalea's current condition. "That was on top of the stress she accrued by pushing herself to end the threat that Voldemort represented to your society. I find it curious that you did not see fit warn my fiancée of how critical her condition had become and that you did not offer her any aide in reducing the morning sickness."

"Kura…" Azalea started to interject in a soft warning tone until Kurapika shushed her.

"And just who are you to accuse me of sabotaging my patient's health?" Madam Pomfrey demanded as she drew herself up and glared at the blond.

"Her fiancé and the father of the babes whose lives were being threatened," Kurapika snapped back in response as he shifted Azalea off his lap so that he could stand up and face the healer as a set of gold Nen chains snapped into existence on his left hand and his eyes shimmered with muted scarlet beneath the black contacts.

"And just where were you when Miss Potter needed your support during the last five and a half months?"

"Don't you dare try to shove any of the blame on Kurapika for my health," Azalea hissed angrily as she leapt to her feet and drew her wand. "He is in no way, shape, or form responsible for me pushing myself the way I did and there was no way I would have risked involving him in the mess with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. It was my decision to hide my pregnancy from everyone – their father included."

"Enough, kitten, you need to sit down and calm down," Kurapika instructed as Azalea's anger snapped him out of his rage and he gently grabbed her elbow so he could guide her back into the chair. He frowned when he noted that Azalea kept her wand in hand as she continued to scowl at Madam Pomfrey but he let it slide since he knew she was still extremely angry due to the chill radiating from his left ear.

Once he was certain that she at least wasn't going to attack the other witch, Kurapika continued, "I apologize for verbally attacking you, madam; I have been upset since Azalea informed me of the dire proclamation that she had been given this morning and I allowed my anger to cloud my judgment."

"Apology accepted, young man; you are hardly the first individual to direct his anger at the healer responsible for overseeing the care of his significant other when he has received less than pleasant news regarding said individual's health. Perhaps we could start over with a proper introduction?"

"I'm Kurapika Evans; no relation to Lily Evans," Kurapika stated as he offered the witch his hand to shake; the blond tacking on the last bit because of the way McGonagall had asked him about such a relationship the moment Azalea had introduced him as an Evans.

"Poppy Pomfrey," Madam Pomfrey offered in return as she clasped Kurapika's hand. "I have been overseeing Miss Potter's health since she first arrived at Hogwarts. I have, unfortunately, been limited in what care I could provide to her over the past five months due to the recent war and my duties here at the castle."

"You're not making it any easier for me to keep my temper in check," Kurapika tightly stated. "I imagine that at least half of the problems that Azalea is having with her pregnancy now stem from her rather poor childhood and you just admitted that you were in charge of her health at a point where you could have made a large difference."

"I addressed the worst of Miss Potter's health issues when she first arrived," Madam Pomfrey countered calmly as she scowled over the topic at hand. "Had I not, the young lady in question would be in a far worse state. I assure you, correcting the damage done to the child in her early years was no walk in the park and contrary to popular belief; magic can not fix everything in the blink of an eye. It took me three long years to reverse the worst of the damage."

"Okay, I can accept that… however, who would have been in charge of making certain that her diet was monitored in order to make certain that she was getting the proper nutrition she needed in order for her body to grow naturally?"

"One of the lesser known reasons why magical training begins at age eleven is because that is typically the age at which children have become mostly self-sufficient in regards to their eating habits, sleeping routines, and personal hygiene," Professor McGonagall stated as she conjured a chair for Madam Pomfrey before summoning her tea set and the tin of ginger biscuits she kept in her office. As she set about making tea for all four of them, she continued her explanation.

"The school's house elves provide a wide assortment of relatively healthy dishes for the students to choose from at each meal and it is up to the children to feed themselves. In a room filled with between three and five hundred children during each meal, it is hard to monitor the intake of a single child. Harriet consistently appeared for meals three times a day so we assumed that she was eating accordingly as in my experience, it is rare for a child to ignore food that is placed in front of his or her face so it never really occurred to us that Harriet's diet would need to be closely monitored."

"Azalea…?" Kurapika questioned with a trace of exasperation as he glanced down at his rather stubborn fiancée.

"I ate three times more in a single week at Hogwarts than I did in a full month with the Dursleys. I ate what I could, when I could, and always squirreled away snacks for later."

"I suppose I was asking the wrong question each time I asked you if you were getting enough to eat," Madam Pomfrey sighed out in a put upon tone. "Of course, getting more than an 'I'm fine' out of you is near impossible."

Kurapika snorted before he grumbled, "Pulling teeth from an angry mother bear without knocking her out first would be easier."

"Truer words were ne'er spoken," Professor McGonagall agreed as she poured the tea she'd made and passed everyone a cup before opening the tin of biscuits and setting them out on a plate and Kurapika watched Azalea's cheeks turn pink in response to the exasperation expressed by all three of them.

Silence filled the office for a few moments as tea was sipped and biscuits were nibbled and the earlier tension drained from the room as each individual reflected upon the recent conversation. Kurapika was just contemplating repeating his earlier questions when he heard Azalea let out a tired sigh as she curled up in the corner of the chair she was sitting in. He suspected the long day had taken far more out of her than she wanted to admit and that her exhaustion had finally caught up with her once more.

"As much fun as it has been to vent a bit and get a few answers, I need to take Azalea home," Kurapika declared just a few seconds later after he came to the decision that he could ask his questions the next time he saw the healer. "My kitten's had a long day and I don't fancy being gutted by her new healer for keeping her away from her bed. I appreciate you both taking the time to see us today and will apologize again for losing my temper."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Evans," Professor McGonagall stated as she rose to her feet. "Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything. I will be certain to see to it that all of the arrangements are made for the thirty-first once you send me the details."

"You mentioned a request from her healer for me to attend Miss Potter's next appointment earlier; do you have the date and time she will be seeing the healer?" Madam Pomfrey inquired as she too climbed up onto her feet.

"Not on me; however, one of Azalea's elves should have picked up that information along with a few other important items from the bank earlier this evening, so I'm certain we can send you a note with the date and time tomorrow. And thank you, Professor McGonagall, you help is greatly appreciated. "

"I will let you know within a day or two if I will be able to make the appointment time," Madam Pomfrey replied as she set her empty cup on Professor McGonagall's desk. "However, my schedule greatly depends upon my patients. If I can't make the appointment, I will make other arrangements to meet with the healer to answer her questions."

Kurapika hummed an acknowledgement as he scooped Azalea up out of the chair before he glanced about the room expectantly. After a minute, he asked, "Zalea, love, are you awake enough to call your feathered friend to take us back to the house?"

"All you have to do is call his name, Kura; he'll answer to you as well," Azalea sleepily pointed out before she went ahead and called the phoenix herself. "Fawkes."

The phoenix appeared a moment later and settled on Kurapika's shoulder before he flamed the pair out of the room and deposited them in Azalea's bedroom. Kurapika thanked Fawkes as the bird released his shoulder and hovered in front of the pair for a moment before he disappeared once more. Kurapika then carried Azalea into the bathroom in order to draw a bath for her only to find the tub already filled with warm water.

A soft chuckle from Azalea drew his attention back to his fiancée as she explained, "Minky always seems to know when I want a bath even if I didn't know I wanted one before I walked into the bathroom to find the tub ready and waiting for me."

"Smart elf," Kurapika replied as he gently set Azalea on her feet so he could help her strip out of her clothes.

He didn't hesitate to shuck his own clothes once he'd finished helping her out of hers before he swept her up into his arms again. He then stepped into the tub, carefully sat down, and settled the petite witch between his legs before he wrapped his arms around her to run his hands gently over her stomach. Kurapika chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to Azalea's temple when she let out one of her soft humming purrs as she leaned back into his chest and placed her hands over top of his.

He felt his heart swell when the babies shifted beneath his hands and he marveled again over the knowledge that he was going to be a father. It was almost surreal; knowing that the young woman in his arms would soon be his wife in the eyes of the law, instead of just in his heart, and that in a few short months she'd be giving birth to his sons. There had been times over the past handful of days that he feared that he was only dreaming what with how many changes had happened over the past year alone; from meeting Azalea to falling in love with her, from earning his Hunter's License to finding the strength to take on the Phantom Troupe, and from actually facing the Spider to collecting nearly all of his clan's stolen eyes with Azalea's unexpected help.

Despite the turmoil and hardships that had plagued him alongside of everything else, Kurapika was happy with the way things turned out; even if he wished things had been slightly different. (Hisoka's attack on Azalea, the carnage that the Spider had unleashed on Yorknew, Azalea leaving him to fight her own war, and Azalea's health taking a severe turn for the worse between the fighting and the stress of her pregnancy just to name a few he wished had never happened.)

Kurapika was drawn out of his internal reflection as Azalea shifted in his arms; the feel of her nude body sliding against his drawing an immediate reaction from his lower body. It was only the knowledge that she was both exhausted and in less than perfect health that kept him from acting upon the desire he felt. Instead, he grabbed the bar of soap that was sitting on the side of the tub and lathered up his hands before he began tenderly washing her; his hands lingering on her stomach before they moved on.

The soft moans of appreciation she let out when he massaged her neck and back with soap covered hands had him smiling as the sound reminded him of the way her cat form would purr when he stroked her back. Twenty minutes later, he pulled the plug on the tub before he rinsed the suds from both of their bodies. He'd barely lifted a sleeping Azalea out of the bathtub at that point when Minky appeared and dried them both with a snap of her fingers.

A second snap had them both wrapped up in fluffy towels and Kurapika thanked the elf as he'd been at a loss as to how he was going to dry them both off without waking the exhausted witch from her much needed sleep. He carried Azalea back into the bedroom after that and spent a moment dressing the sleeping witch in the nightgown that Minky had left on the bed before he tucked her beneath the covers.

Kurapika stood there for several minutes just watching Azalea sleep, his eyes bouncing between watching the rise and fall of her chest and the swell of her stomach. He was drawn from his observation after a while by a soft crack as Dobby popped into the room and handed him a box with the Gringotts logo on it and a thick file. The box turned out to be the week's supply of potions for Azalea while the folder held the new documents labeling him as Kurapika Evans in both worlds and Azalea's medical report.

Kurapika only gave his identification documents a cursory glance before he sat down at Azalea's desk in order to read through Healer Beestung's report. The seriousness of Azalea's precarious health and that of the babies she carried hit Kurapika rather hard as he read through the cold hard facts on parchment; the healer's words far more descriptive than Azalea's brief summary from earlier had been. If he hadn't already been sitting down, Kurapika probably would have collapsed in distress over the very real possibility that he might lose both his fiancée and his unborn children.

At least the goblin healer had given him hope as well as despair as she'd written out a very specific list of instructions for Azalea to follow in order to bring her health up over the next two and a half months.

He was disturbed by the suggestion that labor be induced early, if only because he knew premature newborns tended to be at a higher risk of having health issues but the problem was that Azalea's body would be far too small to handle carrying the twins to full term. Even following Healer Beestung's instructions to the letter wouldn't give her body the strength to cope with the stress of giving birth to two full term babies. Statistically speaking, twins were usually born early in most cases anyway; simply because of the limited space available inside of the mother's womb.

So, planning for Azalea to give birth to their sons three to four weeks early wasn't really as big of a deal as it sounded at first.

Knowing that didn't really make Kurapika feel any better.

The barest glimpse of a moving image affixed to the bottom of the parchment distracted Kurapika from his inner turmoil and he sucked in a sharp breath when he unrolled the parchment enough to view the entire picture. He'd been moved by the ultrasound images that Dr. Mackle had shown him when he'd given the eighteen year old a more in depth report on Azalea's condition while she slept after he'd first been reunited with her but the magical image imprinted upon the parchment was mind blowing; the detail alone was enough to take his breath away.

Watching the babies shift in the animated image as they moved their arms and legs was just fascinating though.

He'd never seen anything so mesmerizing before.

He must have sat there for close to an hour staring at the looping picture of his sons before he dropped the report on the desk and stumbled over to the bed so that he could slip beneath the covers with Azalea. He then shifted so that the dainty witch was tucked into his left shoulder and rested his right hand on her belly as the moving image of his unborn children continued to play through his mind. Kurapika eventually drifted off to sleep with a tender smile on his face as he held Azalea close.

Kurapika woke the next morning when he felt Azalea slip out of bed and race towards the bathroom; much as she had the day before. He followed in her wake just like he had the previous morning and once again held her hair out of the way as she emptied her stomach. Once she was finished, he helped her clean up before he carried her back to bed. The blond then got dressed and headed down to the kitchen in order to make Azalea a cup of tea and some dry toast. If he had thought about it, he probably would have called the elves to bring her a little something but he'd grown used to fending for himself once more over the past five months.

Kreacher gave him a small scowl when he invaded the kitchen but Kurapika took the elf's contrariness in stride as he politely asked the elf if he could borrow the kitchen to make Azalea a light snack. Permission was grudgingly given when the elf realized that allowing the teen to cook would mean having more messes to clean (a busy elf was a happy elf, after all, and even crotchety elves liked to clean). Kurapika had just set the tea leaves to steeping (after spending a good ten minutes hunting for the tea pot, cups, plates, peppermint tea leaves, and bread) when Mr. Lupin entered the kitchen on a mission not far different than the teen's; to fetch tea and some crackers for his pregnant wife.

"Good morning, Mr. Kurta," Mr. Lupin greeted around a yawn as he shuffled to the cabinets to grab two more cups and the tin of crackers. "Or should I be calling you Mr. Evans now?

"You are welcome to call me Kurapika, Mr. Lupin."

"I can do that, providing that you agree to call me Remus."

"I think I can manage that," Kurapika replied with a smile as he poured Azalea's tea and grabbed the small plate of toast he'd made for her.

"Should I apologize for Harriet picking up the bad habit of ordering her man around from my wife?" Remus asked with a soft laugh when he noticed the tray Kurapika had prepared.

"No apologies needed; I took the initiative to grab Azalea a little something to settle her stomach as she's still feeling a little out of sorts."

"Should I call Madam Pomfrey?"

"That won't be necessary, we met with Madam Pomfrey last night while we were at Hogwarts and arrangements were made for a goblin healer to visit Azalea on a weekly basis for as long as needed."

"Why a goblin healer? Why not Madam Pomfrey…?"

"Madam Pomfrey's duty is to the students first and we had no wish to pull her away from the children who obviously need her skills as a healer; especially when you take into consideration what those children have been through over the past five months according to what little I've learned about what happened over the course of the war your world was fighting."

"Ah, that is one point I hadn't considered," Remus acknowledged as he grabbed another teapot, filled it full of water, and set it on the stove to boil as he pulled down the tin of earl gray. "I was only thinking of the fact that Madam Pomfrey would have made time to see Harriet any time Harriet needed to see her if she showed up at the castle. I suppose the fact that the goblin healer has agreed to make house calls means that Harriet will be spending much of the next two weeks in bed?"

"Yes; she's been instructed to stay off her feet as much as possible and get plenty of rest."

"Good luck with that; Harriet is nothing if not stubborn and keeping her in bed long enough to get some rest has been nigh on impossible these past six months."

"I would imagine that part of that was the pressing need she felt to deal with the Dark Lord and his minions as quickly as possible," Kurapika pointed out as he lifted the tray he'd put together (part of him noting the cup of coffee and bowl of fruit that had mysteriously joined the tea and toast) and headed for the door. "Now that the immediate threat is over, I am certain it will be much easier to get her to cooperate."

"True; however, she's always been mulish when it comes to taking care of herself."

"That's an understatement if I ever heard one."

Kurapika left the kitchen at that point to the sound of the older man laughing. The eighteen year old felt a sense of relief that Remus hadn't asked more questions about what was wrong with Azalea for her to need weekly checkups. He would have preferred coming clean with the man but Azalea seemed bound and determined not to let anyone else know about the babies she carried. He could understand her fears but he really thought she was needlessly complicating things. He also thought it better to prepare her friends and self-made family for the babies before they were born instead of waiting until afterwards; either way, they would deduce that she'd been pregnant for quite some time.

When he finally made it back to Azalea's room a few minutes later, it was to find the witch pulling on a pair of pants. He frowned as he stepped into the room and kicked the door shut with his heel; the sound of the door snapping shut startling Azalea. Kurapika nearly dropped the tray he carried when he was forced to duck a bright red light as she spun on her heel and brought her wand up to bear in response. The moment Azalea saw him she blushed bright red and sheepishly put away her wand.

"What are you doing out of bed, kitten?"

"I was just going to go look for you."

"I told you I'd be right back."

"Yes, well; you were gone an awful long time and I was worried that something had happened to you."

"I am fully capable of navigating through the house and I can find my way around a kitchen, kitten."

"It wasn't the house I was worried about. I was far more worried about you running into a wand happy and half asleep Mad Eye who would have been all to happy to curse first and interrogate you under a truth serum the moment he had you roped to the nearest chair."

"Well, as you can see, I'm just fine. I would have returned sooner but I stopped to chat with Remus for a few minutes."

"He didn't give you a hard time again, did he?"

"No, we just exchanged a few pleasantries and commiserated over the demanding women in our lives."

"You did not just call me high maintenance," Azalea deadpanned as she narrowed her eyes at Kurapika.

"Of course I did, kitten; you and I both know you can be a stubborn brat when the mood strikes you," Kurapika fired back unrepentantly as he crossed the room to set the tray he held on the nightstand beside the bed. "Take right now, for instance; I've been back in the room for at least five minutes are you're still just standing there instead of climbing back into bed now that you know I've returned in one piece and curse free. Though, not from a lack of effort on your part seeing as you tried to hex me the moment I walked through the door."

Azalea huffed in exasperation but complied readily enough with the veiled order as she took her pants back off and climbed back onto to the bed. Kurapika helped get her comfortably settled against a couple of pillows before he transferred the tray to her lap. He then crossed the room and grabbed one of the vials of potion out of the box that the goblins had sent along with the copy of the healer's report and the documents that gave him legal entitlement to the Evans name. He then took a seat on the bed beside Azalea and watched her eat for a moment before he began going through his new identification papers (to commit everything to memory) after snagging his cup of coffee from the tray.

The moment he saw Azalea taking her potion (an indication that she'd finished what had turned out to be breakfast instead of the mere snack he'd gone to retrieve), Kurapika addressed her as he set everything but the medical report aside, "Kitten, we need to talk."

"What about, Kura?"

"The babies and your health," Kurapika replied as he moved the tray off Azalea's lap before he settled himself beside her so that he could hold her. "I know we already talked about it a couple of times but you are going to have to stay off your feet as much as possible until the babies are born. That means that you're going to have to trust me to protect myself from your well meaning friends if they take it into their minds to test or prank me whenever I am out of your sight while we are staying here."

"It's not that I doubt your abilities…"

"I know… but the fact remains that you're going to have to stop stressing yourself out needlessly. We're also going to need to do something about the little habit of hexing first and asking questions later when startled that you picked up."

"I'm sorry… it's just…"

"You've spent the past five months fighting for you life and needed to protect yourself and the children; meaning that acting quickly and decisively was necessary," Kurapika interjected wryly as he cut her off once more. "I also don't believe there is anything wrong with remaining alert and aware of your surroundings while we are out in the public; especially knowing that there are people out there that might still wish to harm you for the part you played in ending the war. I think we need to draw the line at throwing curses about right and left while we are in a house that you yourself have stated is well hidden and well protected."

"I know," Azalea replied with a soft frustrated sigh. "I can't help it though; I'm frightened of loosing you or of seeing you get hurt while we're in the wizarding world."

"Understandable and I am aware that it will take time to bring your level of paranoia back down to a more acceptable level where it will be easier to manage. As important as that is, we're supposed to be discussing your physical health and our unborn sons right now."

"You've already read through the translation of Healer Beestung's report."

"Yes; I looked it over last night after you fell asleep. She provided a very detailed listing of everything that was wrong with your health along with a very strict set of orders that you will be expected to follow; including a copy of the special diet that she gave to Minky in order to insure that you and the boys are getting the nutrients you need. I should warn you now that the list of activities you are prohibited from engaging in is far longer than the list of things you need to do each day."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Azalea sighed as she curled closer to him and settled her head against his shoulder.

"Cheer up, kitten; you'll only be on restriction for the next two and a half months."

"Nice try, Kura; but you and I both know that it'll be for at least six months because it will take time for me to recover once the babies are born."

"True but I'd much rather just focus on helping you get through the next two months," Kurapika countered as he leaned down to kiss her temple. "We can worry about what happens after the boys are born once we no longer have to worry about anything happening to the three of you."

"Okay."

"Good; we can go over the full list of restrictions and instructions that Healer Beestung provided in detail later, for now I'll just give you a brief summary because I know we still have other things to discuss and two weddings to plan. The list of things you will need do each day are fairly simple and straight forward; get plenty of rest, stay off your feet as much as possible, eat properly, take your prescribed potions, and meditate frequently to reduce your stress levels."

"That pretty much sounds like what Healer Beestung told me yesterday; only she used fewer words at the time."

"That doesn't surprise me since she was the one to write up your restrictions," Kurapika pointed out with a soft laugh before he grew serious again as he continued. "The restrictions she's placed on your physical activities are not quite as simple but what they all boil down to is that you are not allowed to engage in any activity that increases your heart rate above ninety beats per minute, involves you being on your feet for more than twenty minutes at a time, or drops your magic levels below seventy-five percent. You are also not to do any heavy lifting, excessive traveling, or brew any potions."

"So basically I've been consigned to bed rest for the next three months."

"In a nutshell, yes."

"I suppose that means I'll have plenty of time to catch up on my studies," Azalea grumbled in resignation.

Kurapika suppressed the urge he felt to chuckle over the semi-petulant tone she used even as he pressed another kiss to her temple. He then shifted into a slightly more comfortable position as he considered how to bring up the next topic that they needed to discuss; revealing her pregnancy to those she considered friends and family in order to reduce the stress of trying to keep the twins a secret. After a moment, he decided to approach the subject from a different direction.

"Kitten, how would you feel about asking Dr. Mackle to be here when Healer Beestung comes to check on you and the babies? You brought up a good point yesterday when you said that there are benefits to both magical and non-magical methods of healing and it could be beneficial to have Dr. Mackle involved."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask him and he probably ran all sorts of tests while I was unconscious."

"He did and while he did give me a basic overview of the results, he wouldn't actually go into details with me without your permission despite the fact that I am listed as your emergency contact on his files. We should probably send him a copy of Healer Beestung's report so that he can look over her results and compare them to what he learned from the various tests that he ran."

"I suppose that you're going to insist?"

"Not if you can give me a valid reason as to why we shouldn't allow him to see her report."

"Fine… he'd have learned what was on the report anyway if he agrees to come to my next appointment with the goblin healer. Are there any other demands that you're going to offer up as suggestions?"

"Well, now that you mention it… we should write another letter to Chairman Netero in order to provide him with an update on your current condition since he's technically your boss. We should also see if he would be willing to meet with you here so that you can fill him in on everything you've learned about the current state of the wizarding world in order to comply with Healer Beestung's instructions for you to stay off your feet and limit your traveling."

"I'm perfectly fine with that… it would reduce the chances of Dr. Mackle dragging me off to his Infirmary for another round of tests the moment he learned I was at Headquarters. Anything else?"

"There are a couple of things, yes. Do you remember what you told me when I asked you why you brought up your pregnancy when we were visiting the bank yesterday, kitten; about how you couldn't hide the babies forever?"

"Yes," Azalea replied slowly as she sat up and leaned back so she could search his face.

"I think you need come clean with the others and tell them about your pregnancy," Kurapika stated as he held her gaze and he felt a small jolt of guilt when he saw her emerald eyes fill with a mixture of hurt, fear, and guilt before he watched a familiar stubborn glint push everything else out. "And before you tell me no, you need to think about just how much stress hiding your condition has placed on you for the past five months. I'm not asking you to stand on the roof and tell the world that you are carrying my sons; I'm asking you to tell the people that you consider your friends and family so that they can help you."

Azalea wilted in his arms as she cried out a soft, "I'm scared that they'll all hate me."

"They are bound to be upset that you didn't trust them enough to tell them and they'll probably be a little angry about you risking the babies' lives and your health but they aren't going to hate you for being scared. You also won't have to face them alone and you have my word that I won't let them to yell at you or throw insults at you for your choices. It needs to be done though and the sooner you tell them, the sooner you can stop worrying about how they are going to react."

"Okay," Azalea reluctantly agreed in a tiny voice before she changed the subject. "What else did you want to talk about?"

"Wedding plans for both ceremonies but we can hold off discussing the magical ceremony for now since Mrs. Lupin and Mrs. Weasley both wished to be involved in that discussion. There is no reason, however, that we can't get a few of the details for our non-magical ceremony ironed out so that we can contact those individuals we will need to in order to make certain everything is ready by the fourteenth."

"You'd best grab a jar of ink, a quill, and a few rolls of parchment from the desk then; so we can start writing letters and making notes," Azalea ordered as she sat up once more and wiped away the handful of tears that had escaped her eyes.

"Yes, dear."

The two of them would spend the next two hours planning their non-magical wedding ceremony and writing out several letters to various individuals. After the final letter had been sent via elf express or phoenix transport, Kurapika tucked Azalea back beneath the covers and instructed her to take a nap while he put together of list of things that still needed to be done for both weddings and the upcoming Ministerial Ball that Azalea would be required to attend.

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**AN: **_A little dash of drama, a bit of angst, and a dash of fluff. We also see another hint about the nature of the chains that Kurapika conjures on his left hand. Shh... if you think you've figured it out, don't spoil it for those who haven't gotten it! And don't spam me with PMs demanding answers... I'm not gonna answer them and flooding my inbox with questions about the story content will only annoy me. _

_Anywho... I will be posting another chapter or two on this story this coming weekend and have tentative plans to update my HP/Naruto xover titled 'The Unbound Soul' now that I've finally gotten over the writer's block I had on that story. It really depends on whether or not I can finish the arc I'm writing out and clean up the chapters in time for the entire arc to be posted. If I don't update that story this weekend, it will definitely be updated the following weekend. _

_In the mean time, you do have more of this story to look forward to for certain. Next chapter should pick up from where this one left off and I believe it has the reactions to Azalea's pregnancy finally being revealed to her closest friends. ~ Jenn_


	44. Taking x the World by x Storm

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Forty-Four: Taking x the World by x Storm

Azalea self-consciously tugged at the bottom hem of the loose fitting peasant's blouse that Minky had produced when Kurapika had asked the elf if Azalea had any maternity clothes. The blouse was pale green in color with palm sized purple and white azaleas embroidered around the hemline over a background of dark green leaves that faded to near-white as they reached her belly button. It was made from lightweight cotton, emphasized her swollen breasts, hung down to the middle of her thighs, and did nothing to hide the very visible evidence of just how close she'd grown to Kurapika.

Underneath the flowing blouse, she wore a pair of medium brown maternity slacks that were designed to help support the weight of her protruding stomach to reduce the strain on her back and were surprisingly comfortable. Or they would have been if they weren't designed to emphasize and draw attention to her pregnancy. Her feet were clad in nothing but a pair of the mismatched socks that Dobby had given to her for her birthday; one of them dark green with white lilies on them and the other pale green with red roses.

"You look beautiful, kitten," Kurapika assured her as he stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her so that he could rest his hands on her distended belly.

"I feel exposed," Azalea countered quietly as she leaned back against his chest and placed her hands over his.

"Ah, but is it because you're not wearing your protective cloak or is it because you are not hiding your belly?"

"Both, I guess."

"Everything will be fine, kitten," Kurapika stated firmly as he kissed the back of her neck before he stepped back in order to sweep her up into his arms.

Azalea sighed as she rested her head against his shoulder and protectively drew the loose folds of her blouse up so that her stomach didn't stand out so much. The moment that Kurapika carried her out of their room, the insecure witch closed her eyes and focused on her breathing in order to fight the growing panic she felt. It wasn't long before Kurapika was whispering a soft warning in her ear to let her know they'd reached the kitchen and Azalea shivered as she lifted her head off of Kurapika's shoulder just before he stepped through the door.

"Still practicing, Kurapika?" Bill inquired with a laugh as those already seated at the table glanced up as the two of them entered the room.

Moody snorted and countered, "They no more need to practice at playing husband and wife than you or Lupin do, Weasley. Don't know if I should be worried or impressed over the fact that you managed to hide those two little gems from me for so long, lass."

Azalea cringed and buried her face against Kurapika's neck as she immediately realized that Moody's eye had already seen the babies while everyone else just appeared confused by his comment. If not for the fact that Kurapika was holding her, she probably would have fled the room in shame at that point.

"I think you get to get your eye checked, Mad-Eye," Fred declared loftily.

"Yeah, Azalea's been wearing those fancy baubles for months now…" George added in a patronizing tone.

"…and there's quite a few more than just two of them pretty little stones in the choker alone." Fred finished with a smug grin.

"Shows what the two of you know," Moody scathingly retorted as he snuck a drink from his hip flask.

"Maybe you should enlighten those of us who don't share your omnipotent eye," Tonks growled moodily as she tried to morph one of her eyes to look like Moody's magical eye only to give up when she couldn't hold the change.

"Not my place and if the lot of you would shut-up, the lass will probably tell you herself," Moody declared as he focused his normal eye on Tonks while his magical eye remained focused on Azalea, or rather on the half-grown babes growing in her womb.

"Harriet…?" Remus inquired as everyone swung their gazes back to the couple still standing just inside of the door in response to Moody's declaration.

"Might as well show them and get it over with, love," Kurapika suggested softly as he carefully set her down on her feet so that her back was to the rest of the room.

Azalea took a shuddering breath and gave a single jerky nod before she reluctantly let go of her blouse and slowly turned around while she kept her head bowed and her eyes on the ground to avoid meeting anyone's gaze. She couldn't help but cringe and wrap her arms protectively over her stomach when she heard several gasps and a handful of curses ring out the moment everyone's eyes fell on her protruding stomach.

"Damn it all to hell, Harriet; why didn't you tell us that you were pregnant!?" Remus roughly demanded once he got over the shock.

"I'm more interested in how she's been hiding her pregnancy," Tonks commented with a tinge of jealousy. "I've been looking like a bloated whale for months now because I haven't had the control to morph anything beyond my hair since the fourth month of my pregnancy and here she's been running around looking like a twig all this time."

"I can't believe we overlooked something so obvious for so long," Bill stated as he frowned.

"We only saw what she wanted us to see, mon amour," Fleur supplied as she rose from her seat and walked up to Azalea so that she could wrap the shorter witch in a hug before she escorted her to the table and sat her down.

"I suppose we now know why the two of you are in such a hurry to tie the knot," Moody added almost to himself as he took another drink from his flask.

"I wanted to tell you sooner… but I was scared," Azalea meekly answered. "Scared of disappointing everyone, of how all of you would react if you knew, of Voldemort and his Death Eaters learning about the babies, and of being locked up while everyone else was risking their lives fighting. I was also terrified that you all would blame Kurapika or accuse him of abandoning me and our babies even though he didn't even know about them until after the battle at Hogwarts."

"What do you mean babies?" Fred and George asked in stereo while the other adults were digesting Azalea's confession.

"Azalea is five and a half months pregnant with twins," Kurapika replied as he moved to hover protectively beside the distraught witch. "Her health is also rather fragile right now; so, I'd appreciate it if you would hold any lectures you wish to give her over her choices until after the babies are born. The last five months have taken a huge toll on Zalea and both Zalea and the babies are at risk right now; meaning all three of them could die if precautions aren't taken."

"If you knew her condition was so delicate, why are you allowing her to attend the upcoming Ministry Ball on top of the rushed wedding?" Remus demanded as he scowled at the eighteen year old.

"We didn't find out just how serious her current condition was until after we'd already started making plans because we didn't get a translated copy of Healer Beestung's report until we got back from Hogwarts last night. It's also best to get those events out of the way now in order to reduce the amount of emotional stress that Azalea is under instead of leaving them to hang over her head for an additional three or four months."

Further discussion of Azalea's health and pregnancy was postponed by the delivery of lunch. Throughout the meal, the conversation revolved around the latest robe fashions, the fragile economy, and the floundering sports franchise. Over the course of the meal, the tension that Azalea had been feeling since Kurapika had basically ordered her to come clean to the others about her condition slowly melted away as the negative reactions she had expected in response to her pregnancy never came.

Sure, they'd been hurt and upset that she'd hidden her condition but those emotions had quickly turned to concern the moment Kurapika revealed how fragile her health was at the moment.

After the meal, Bill, Fred, George, and Moody headed back to their jobs while the rest of the group migrated into the drawing room where they would spend the rest of the afternoon planning Azalea and Kurapika's first wedding. With their preferred venue secured and security measures to be handled by the Ministry (Shacklebolt had already been notified of where the wedding would be taking place), the group started with compiling a proper guest list. An appropriate invitation was then drafted, refined, duplicated five hundred times, addressed to each of the five hundred guests that would be invited to attend the ceremony and reception, and delivered to Diagon Alley's Owl Post Office for delivery.

The next items that were covered were the type of ceremony (contemporary Celtic hand-fasting), colors (pale purple and gold), flowers (lilies), catering for the reception (to be handled by the Hogwarts elves under Minky and Tinker's direction), the cake (to be made by Dobby and Kreacher), and the mementos for the guests (two inch tall fluted vases filled with mints that would be engraved with the couple's names and wedding date). They then discussed bridesmaids (Angelina and Alicia), maid of honor (Katie), flower girls (Luna and Gabrielle), groomsmen (Fred and George), best man (Oliver or Viktor), ring bearer (one of Fleur's younger male cousins), and who would stand in for Azalea's parents (Remus and Tonks). More letters were written and sent to ask those who had been named if they would be willing to be part of the wedding party (barring those they could personally ask later like the twins, Remus, and Tonks).

As the planning turned to dresses and dress robes (with Tonks sending Remus to pick up a catalog from Twilfitt and Tatting's so that they could browse through the available styles), Azalea fell asleep on the couch with her head pillowed on Kurapika's lap. She also missed the brief discussion on who they would book to provide music for both the ceremony and the reception (a rather famous wizarding French orchestra called Ensemble Enchanteur) and who would stand in as an announcer slash disc jockey for the reception (Lee Jordan). Another round of letters was sent off at that point to order the flowers, decorations, and memento vases as well as book the services of a druid priest, a photographer, and the orchestra.

Kurapika woke Azalea from her nap at five so that she could eat supper and go through the replies they'd received from the first round of letters that had been sent earlier that morning. Or rather, Kurapika was going through the replies and relaying any pertinent information to Azalea while she ate. The twins teasingly asked the blond if he would like them to get him a dress because he was such a good secretary. Azalea snickered and eagerly told the twins about the time that Kurapika played the part of the damsel in distress and she rushed in to save him like a proper knight in shining armor.

Kurapika retaliated by giving a detailed accounting of Azalea throwing herself backwards off of Mt. Split-In-Half and the hours she spent 'playing' tag with the updrafts. The twins then jumped in talked about the time she played tag with a dragon while flying her broom; Fred and George both unaware that Azalea had shared that memory with the eighteen year old. After that, Azalea couldn't resist sharing the story of the day she'd pranked the twins with her animagus form and how they'd both screamed like little girls when she'd switched from Pixie's form to Snowbell's form.

Remus joined in the story telling next, passing along the story of one of the Marauder's greatest school-wide pranks when they had charmed all of the enchanted armor in the castle to run about wooing witches and challenging the wizards to sword fights on Valentine's Day of their fourth year. By the time he finished the story, everyone was roaring with laughter after hearing the part where Professor Flitwick had been challenged by a suit and then promptly called a cheater when the diminutive Charms Professor had attempted to cancel the charms that had been placed on the armor instead of dueling as challenged.

A few more tales were told, each of them sharing at least one amusing story, over dessert before they broke up to go their separate ways.

Azalea asked the twins to wait up for a moment so that she and Kurapika could ask them if they'd be willing to both be groomsmen in their wedding since Kurapika didn't really know that many wizards. Both Fred and George readily agreed when they learned that Azalea was hoping to have the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team from her first three years in the wedding party. The redheaded bookends then took a moment to tease Azalea about trying to copy them by having a set of twins of her own before they slipped off to bed and left the couple to their own devices.

Kurapika carried Azalea back up to their shared room after that where they found a warm bath and a fresh change of nightclothes waiting for them. After a short, relaxing soak, the two of them crawled into bed where Azalea promptly drifted off to sleep curled up in Kurapika's arms.

Monday morning would start out much the same way the previous mornings did; with Azalea dashing to the bathroom at exactly five minutes before six in the morning to empty her stomach and Kurapika following in her wake to hold her hair out of the way and help her clean up afterwards. The two of them would then share a light breakfast in bed before they spent the morning going through the post that had arrived throughout the night and writing out replies.

They were then interrupted by Fleur as she imperiously ordered Kurapika to bring Azalea down to the drawing room so that they could pick up where they left off the day before with the wedding plans and browse through the owl order catalogs that Remus had collected from Twilfitt and Tatting's the day before. Poor Kurapika had been kicked out of the room as soon as he'd settled Azalea on the couch. The petite witch was then subjected to a light grilling where both Fleur and Tonks demanded details about her pregnancy; such as when she was due, what problems she'd experienced, and how she'd hid her growing belly.

After that, the three of them spent an hour picking out dresses and dress robes for both the upcoming ball and both wedding (after Azalea had informed them of the second ceremony for their non-magical friends) before they called Minky to help them take their measurements. Minky was also talked into helping the three of them to create two new versions of Azalea's special corsets for all three of them to wear under their dress robes; one out of dragon hide to provide them extra protection during the Ministry Ball and one out of silk to wear for the wedding.

The corsets would be finished before lunch time thanks to Minky's tailoring skills (part of her skill set as a nanny elf) and the three pregnant witches would have their measurements taken a second time while wearing the corsets. Minky then collected the corsets in order to hide them from their men folk so they could surprise them later and Dobby was called to deliver their orders to Twilfitt and Tatting's (along with a forewarning that they would be ordering the formal wear for the rest of the bridal party from them as well). Tanker then served lunch in the drawing room as Remus and Kurapika were given permission to rejoin them now that they'd finished picking out dresses and dress robes.

Throughout the meal, the group continued to discuss the wedding plans; making note of the responses they'd received so far from all of the letters that had been sent out the day before and coming up with alternate options for those that had declined for one reason or another. For those that had agreed to be in the wedding party, letters were sent out to let them know that they needed to visit Twilfitt and Tatting's before the end of the week or send them their measurements for their dress robes (Azalea stubbornly insisting that she was paying for everything since they'd been given such short notice about the wedding).

After lunch, Azalea napped on the couch once more while the others continued to make plans; putting together a gift list for the guests and picking out the stores that they would register their gift list with, creating a series of fun and silly competitions to entertain the guests at the reception, coming up with prizes that could be gifted to the winners of said competitions, designing the center pieces for the tables at the reception, picking out the place settings for the meal, and setting a date to meet with the druid priest to go over the ceremony.

While the group was making plans, the rest of the entire wizarding world was buzzing over the wedding announcement in the Daily Prophet following on the heels of the Ministry's announcement about the upcoming Victory Ball. Most of the general public was pleased to finally learn what had become of their savior and were excited about the upcoming nuptials. A small handful of purebloods and those unmarked followers of Voldemort that hadn't yet been caught were livid though and a flurry of secret meetings would be held over the next two weeks as they plotted their revenge.

Deep within Gringotts, in a vault that had been rented in perpetuity by Albus Dumbledore for the sole purpose of collecting all of the fan mail addressed to one Harriet Azalea Potter, the five goblins and two wizards that had been hired by the late Dumbledore to sort, scan, organize, and in some cases answer the large volume of letters, gifts, contracts, and other missives sent to the Girl-Who-lived were inundated with a flood of correspondence (including more than a few howlers) as the usual inflow of post was more than tripled by the recent announcement. Notice of the work overload was immediately sent upstairs and management pulled out the contract that Dumbledore had signed with the bank in regards to the vault in order to verify the proper course of action that would need to be taken to deal with the current situation.

Once it was determined that Miss Potter met several of the conditions that Dumbledore had stated needed to be fulfilled before Miss Potter could be notified of the existence of the fan mail vault, notice was sent to Bonerage as the only goblin with an established business arrangement with the witch in question. Bonerage spent most of the morning investigating the matter before he sent off a missive with a request to meet with Azalea at home at her earliest convenience (after he recalled Healer Beestung's explicit orders not to drag the witch in question to the bank for anything less than a dire emergency).

Kingsley Shacklebolt was also experiencing an increase in post due to the recent announcements and his receptionist was working overtime in order to sort through everything in order to make certain he didn't accidentally ignore any of the more important correspondence. His undersecretaries, on the other hand, were busy taking care of everything for the upcoming ball and making arrangements to provide protection and security for Miss Potter's wedding; the latter of which was being supervised by Alastor Moody. The interim Minister of Magic was doing his best to juggle his paperwork, his appointments, and his duties when he received an urgent summons from the muggle Prime Minister.

Kingsley probably would have put off responding to the summons for a day or two if not for the portrait that served as a liaison between their offices informing the former auror that the summons had originated from the Queen herself and not from the Prime Minister. One did not refuse, postpone, or ignore a summons from Her Majesty unless they were dead, dying, or institutionalized with a mental condition. With that in mind, Kingsley promptly instructed his receptionist to reschedule the rest of his appointments; leaving the poor woman in tears beneath the overflowing and still growing pile of letters, howlers, memos, and reports.

The temporary Minister of Magic would return to his office two hours later completely wrung out after having to give a report on the current state of the British wizarding world to the Queen and her closest advisors. The meeting would have been far less stressful for the wizard if not for the fact that most of the answers the Queen was demanding were protected by his oaths of office due to Harriet Potter's involvement and her status as a Hunter. The moment he sat down in his office, he drafted an urgent letter to Miss Potter informing her that her presence was required at a mandatory meeting first thing the following morning by order of the Queen.

Azalea would receive both the request from Bonerage and the summons from Kingsley (along with the promised invitations for the Order members to the upcoming ball) during the middle of supper that night. She cringed after reading Bonerage's letter; she had no desire to deal with all of the fan mail that she'd originally hoped didn't exist but reluctantly sent him a reply letting him know that the first day she had free was Thursday due to meeting with Minister Shacklebolt on Tuesday and her standing appointments with Healer Beestung, Madam Pomfrey, Dr. Mackle, and Chairman Netero for Wednesday.

Azalea then sent notice to Kingsley stating that she'd received the summons, that she would meet him in his office at the designated time, that Kurapika would be accompanying her (his inclusion not open to discussion per his insistence), and that her method of travel was limited to muggle means or phoenix transport for health reasons.

After a restless night (due to worrying about what the Queen might want with her), Azalea fumbled through her morning ritual of worshiping the porcelain god, showered, and meticulously dressed in her James persona (she was making an appearance as a Hunter in the muggle world, after all). She even went so far as to wear her old black dragon hide cloak over the slacks and dress shirt she had donned and her hideous old glasses while tying her hair back in a loose ponytail and removing all of her jewelry bar her left earring and Kurapika's ring. Kurapika playfully complained about her hiding her femininity to lighten the mood and help Azalea relax a little while they ate breakfast.

Fawkes appeared once they were ready and Azalea took a moment to lock away her emotions as she stepped into the role of Hunter James. A minute later, she reached up to take hold of Fawkes's tale as Kurapika wrapped his arms around her and they vanished in a swirl of flames. They reappeared in the middle of Kingsley's office a heartbeat later where they found the interim Minister patiently waiting for them. Kingsley appeared startled by the near drastic changes in her appearance but soon regained his aplomb as he addressed the couple.

"Good morning, Miss Potter and Mr. Evans. I appreciate your prompt arrival as it allows us a few minutes to discuss your audience with the Queen before we are expected to meet the Prime Minister in his office. Go ahead and take a seat so that we can begin."

"Good morning, sir," Kurapika replied in return as he waited for Azalea to sit down in one of the chair provided before taking up a protective position directly behind her chair (a habit that he'd developed during his stint as Neon Nostrade's bodyguard) with Fawkes perching himself on the back of the chair.

"Good morning, Minister Shacklebolt," Azalea replied next before she pinned the former auror with a razor sharp emerald gaze that glittered with gold dust as she added, "For future reference, sir, when you see me dressed as I am now, I am to be addressed only as Hunter James and the name Harriet Potter is not to be associated with Hunter James for any reason when there is a need for me to interact with the muggle world. This is both for my protection and in order to maintain the Statute of Secrecy while I am acting within my official capacity as a Dark Wizard Hunter. The same applies to my persona as Hunter James being associated with Harriet Potter within the wizarding world."

"I will be certain to keep that in mind for all future interactions I have with either of your identities," Kingsley solemnly vowed; the man easily understanding the need for an alias thanks to his experience as an auror. He then immediately got down to business due to their schedule for the day. "The reason why you have been summoned to meet with the Queen is directly related to your position as a Hunter; since I was prevented from discussing the part you played in ending the threat of Voldemort due to the oaths I took upon being sworn into office. Her Majesty was displeased that I was unable to give her the answers she was seeking and promptly ordered me to produce the individual that could. And here we are."

"Chairman Netero warned me that I might be called before the Queen regarding what happened with Voldemort," Azalea sighed as she reached up to massage her temples. "The Association was required to notify Her Majesty that there would be a Hunter actively operating within her jurisdiction the moment I earned my license. I probably should have warned you about that before you were summoned but I'd completely forgotten about it over the course of war since I had more important things to worry about. If I had warned you, then you would have been able to freely discuss 'Hunter James's' activities since Her Majesty is aware that I am here; even if she doesn't know anything beyond the name Hunter James and my status as a Dark Wizard Hunter."

"A warning would have been appreciated but I can hardly blame you for having other things on your mind. At least I will be prepared for any future meetings between myself and the Queen. Does the permission to discuss your presence here also extend to the Prime Minister?"

"Yes."

"That will make things even easier since there is a greater chance of me needing to deal with the Prime Minister for the duration of my time in office than there is of me being called before the Queen a third or fourth time."

"A year ago I would have called you crazy if you had told me that I would be summoned to appear before the Queen even once," Azalea retorted with a soft snort.

"I felt the same way when I was summoned yesterday."

Their briefing was interrupted at that point by a discreet cough from the portrait that linked the Minister of Magic's office to the Prime Minister's office before he announced, "The Prime Minister is ready to receive you now, Minister Shacklebolt."

"Please tell him that I am on my way," Kingsley intoned as he climbed to his feet before he returned his attention to Azalea. "I will go through the Floo and warn the Prime Minister of your arrival and send Muldoon* to let you know that it is clear for you to transport into his office with Fawkes."

Azalea nodded in response and watched Kingsley grab a pinch of Floo Powder to toss into the flames that sprang up in the fireplace the moment he stepped up to the mantel. The moment he disappeared in a swirl of green flames, Azalea let out an explosive sigh as she slumped against the back of her chair.

"Are you alright, kitten?"

"I'm fine, Kura; just a little tired and more than a little apprehensive about appearing before the Prime Minister and the _Queen_ with very little warning."

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, Zalea; after all, it sounds like you're only going to be required to give the Queen a report on the part you played in the recent wizarding war. Think of it as practice for when we meet with Chairman Netero in two days."

"Thank you for attempting to cheer me up, Kura, but facing the Queen will be nothing like facing the old brick wall; Chairman Netero is far less likely to have me imprisoned or executed as a traitor if my actions displeased him."

"You really are a pessimist, aren't you, Mr. Doom and Gloom?" Kurapika dryly demanded as he flicked her on the back of the head; drawing a brief smile from the witch over him calling her by the old nickname that Leorio had given to her shortly after she'd first met the man.

"No, I'm a realist because I am fully aware of just how likely the Potter Luck is to affect any given situation and my luck doesn't always help me out of any sticky situations I end up getting swept up in."

"Minister Shacklebolt has sent me to inform you that the Prime Minister is prepared for your arrival," Muldoon interjected before Kurapika could respond to Azalea statement.

"Thank you, Mr. Muldoon; please let them know that we will be there shortly," Azalea stated as all traces of weariness and insecurity disappeared the moment she climbed to her feet.

Kurapika sighed as he stepped around the chair and gently took hold of her right elbow before reaching up to grab one of Fawkes's tail feathers as the phoenix launched himself from the back of the chair and hovered above their heads. The mythical bird then let out a trill of encouragement as he wrapped them in phoenix flames and transported them to the Prime Minister's office. The phoenix quickly settled himself onto Azalea's left shoulder the moment they both released his tail as the flames that had transported them began fading away.

"Good morning, gentlemen," the Prime Minister greeted the moment the flames died down. "I'd like to thank you both for agreeing to meet with Her Highness on such short notice. I'm also a little confused since Chairman Netero's missive only indicated that there was one new Hunter operating within Her Majesty's Realm; not two. May I ask which one of you is Hunter James?"

"I am Hunter James," Azalea declared as she stepped forward to offer her hand to the Prime Minister. "My companion is Hunter Kurapika and he is not officially an active Hunter within Great Britain; he is in England for personal reasons and to keep an eye on me while I am recovering from my role in the short, if violent, civil war that took place within the British wizarding community recently."

"Ah, thank you for clearing that up for me. Please allow me to belatedly welcome you both to England," the Prime Minister stated as he shook both of their hands. He then turned back to Azalea and asked, "Recovering? Am I to assume that you were injured during the conflict?"

"Not exactly," Azalea hedged as she shrugged her right shoulder. "I was under a considerable amount of stress though and the final confrontation with the… I don't know if I could call him a man considering he was mostly a monster in the guise of a man… I guess you could say he was the individual that was responsible for starting the entire conflict or rather continuing the conflict since it never really ended in the first place even if there was a thirteen year long stretch of peace…"

Kurapika coughed to hide his laughter as he reached forward to take hold of her elbow again as he murmured, "James, you're babbling again."

"Oh, right, sorry, sir," Azalea apologized as she flushed bright red. "I only received a few minor injuries during the final conflict when I faced the leader of the opposition. I'm actually recovering from the stress that built up over the past five months coupled with the severe state of exhaustion I'd driven myself into while facing the individual that called himself Lord Voldemort who was born as Tom Marvolo Riddle or as the wizarding world called him; You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"You-Know-Who? Wasn't that the dark wizard that Fudge and Scrimgeour spoke of a year and a half ago?" the Prime Minister inquired as he glanced towards Minister Shacklebolt. "The same You-Know-Who that was confirmed dead in your brief report yesterday?"

"That is correct, sir."

"And am I to understand that you were the one to defeat the terrorist in question?" the Prime Minister demanded as he swung his gaze back towards Azalea.

"In a manner of speaking, sir; though, I did not do it alone."

"Wonderful, Minister Shacklebolt, you are free to go; I will send word to you through the portrait if your presence is required for further clarification," the Prime Minister stated as he stepped around his desk. "Hunter James, if you would kindly follow me; I shall now escort you to see the Queen. Your companion is welcome to accompany us as far as the anti-chamber where he will need to remain whilst you are being interviewed by Her Majesty. If either of you are carrying any weapons on your persons, I'm going to ask that you leave them in my office where you will be able to reclaim them once the interview is over."

"Of course, sir," Kingsley murmured as he headed towards the fireplace while Kurapika withdrew his bokken and set the wooden swords on the Prime Minister's desk. "I will see the two of you in my office once you have finished."

"Could you please insure that James is provided with a seat during the course of his interview?" Kurapika requested as the two Hunters followed the Prime Minister out of his office where they were immediately surrounded by security and promptly searched the two of them for any concealed weapons (they would find none as Azalea had left her wand in her bag at home where it would be safe). "He was ordered by his healer to stay off of his feet as much as possible in order to avoid exacerbating his condition."

"I will personally see to it that he does not tax himself," the Prime Minister assured Kurapika as they traveled through an endless maze of hallways.

Azalea sighed over Kurapika's over protectiveness but wisely held her tongue; she knew he was only looking out for her and the babies. And she had been ordered to stay off of her feet as much as possible. She probably wouldn't have had the courage to ask for a seat on her own anyway, since one simply does not sit in the presence of the Queen when one has been called to appear before Her Majesty.

All too soon they reached their destination and Azalea stole one last glance at her fiancé before she squared her shoulders and gathered every ounce of her Gryffindor Courage as she followed the Prime Minister through the door alone but for the silent phoenix still perched upon her shoulder.

* * *

**Translations:** French to English

Mon amour – my love  
Ensemble Enchanteur – Enchanting Ensemble

**Notes:**

Burdock Muldoon – Chief of the Wizard's Council from 1448-1450 according to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them and the Famous Witches and Wizards Cards from the Chamber of Secrets game. There is some dispute over the dates that he served as Chief of the Council though since the books states that it was in the 14th century while the cards provided dates within the 15th century. He is also known for defining a magical being as any magical bipedal creature and therefore entitled to have a voice in the magical government (something the goblins used to cause a lot of trouble with according to FB).

I chose Muldoon to be the unnamed portrait linked to the Prime Minister's office due to the fact that a number of purebloods look down on muggles and treat them with just as much, if not more disdain, than they do various magical beings. In other words, sticking Muldoon in the Prime Minister's office was a back-handed insult based upon Muldoon's poorly thought out statement that walking on two legs made one a sentient being (birds walk on two legs, as do a number of other magical creatures). Anyway, that was the reasoning I used for throwing in Muldoon's name.

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**AN: **_So, Azalea's pregnancy has finally been revealed to her allies/friends/family and she's been ordered to appear before the Queen to be debriefed on the part she played in the 'Wizarding War'. Not sure if there's really anything else to comment on here. So, I'll end my note here by saying that the next chapter will either be up on Sunday or a week from today; it really depends on if I have time to format it in between getting the updates and chapters done up for Unbound Soul (which I'll be updating tomorrow). ~ Jenn_**  
**


	45. Briefings x Meetings x and Emotional Out

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Forty-Five: Briefings x Meetings x and Emotional Outbursts

Azalea wearily put one foot in front of the other as she was led back out into the antechamber by the Prime Minister now that her four and a half hour interrogation had finally ended. And yes, it had been a full blown interrogation and _not_ just a debriefing. Oh, the Queen had been polite enough throughout the entire process but she had also been ruthless as she methodically questioned every single little detail of Azalea's report, the decisions she'd made over the past six months, and the actions she'd taken since she'd first entered the wizarding world.

The Queen had even managed to drag Azalea's true name and life's story from her with just a few words; including the fact that she was pregnant with twins. The only thing that hadn't been brought up was the Deathly Hallows and the fact that Azalea now owned all three of the artifacts.

It made her wonder if the Queen had someone with Mizuken's ability to manipulate people on her staff. Then again, the Queen was a force to be reckoned with all on her own with decades of experience in dealing with politicians, diplomats, military personnel, and foreign dignitaries. A seventeen year old witch with an unfinished magical and muggle education with absolutely no training in politics or diplomacy hadn't stood a chance against the full force of the Queen's presence.

At least it was over now and she could go home… or at least she could once she finished reporting to Kingsley. A tired sigh escaped from Azalea's lips as she thought about the inevitable briefing with the Interim Minister; she just knew it was going to be a long afternoon. She'd much rather go home and take a nice long soak in the tub before laying down for a nap. A soft trill of inquiry from her shoulder had the witch reaching up to pet the phoenix that was perched on her shoulder.

"I'm alright, Fawkes; just not looking forward to my next meeting," Azalea murmured as the phoenix nuzzled her cheek in turn while the Prime Minister glanced back over his shoulder at her as he opened the door so that she could exit the room first.

The moment she stepped through the door into the antechamber, Kurapika jumped to his feet and hurried to her side (much to the amusement of the Prime Minister who was now aware of the relationship Kurapika and Azalea shared). Azalea gave her fiancé a wane smile as he gave her a brief inspection to make certain she'd come to no harm before the two of them fell into step behind the Prime Minister as he led the way back to his office. Ten minutes later, the two rookie Hunters were once again standing in front of the Prime Minister's desk as he addressed them one last time.

"I'd like to thank you once more for your cooperation today, Miss Potter; you've painted us a much clearer picture of what has been happening within the wizarding world these past three decades than what we'd previously learned through the official channels."

"You're welcome, I think, sir," Azalea replied with more than a little uncertainty as she wondered just how much trouble she would be getting into with Kingsley because of the information she'd given to the Queen; not that there was anything he could legally do to her thanks to her status as a Hunter.

The Prime Minister smiled in response as he continued, "I doubt that we will need to meet with you again before June but I can't make any promises. You can also expect to hear from my office sometime within the next three weeks in regards to the other matter that Her Majesty brought up towards the end of our meeting; after the Queen's proposal has been reviewed by parliament. In the mean time, please take care of yourself and don't hesitate to contact me if your position within the wizarding world turns untenable."

"Yes, sir," Azalea replied as she shook the man's hand a final time before she returned to Kurapika's side as Fawkes launched himself from her shoulder and offered the two of them his tail feathers.

A swirl of flames briefly engulfed the pair at that point and the two of them were once more standing in the middle of Minister Shacklebolt's office. Azalea sighed and let her shoulders slump as the long morning and emotionally draining conversation with the Queen caught up with her. Kurapika bustled her into a chair just seconds later; a concerned look on his face as he took in her slightly pale complexion.

"I'm fine, Kura; just a little tired," Azalea assured the blond.

"Shall I have my secretary fetch you a cup of tea?" Kingsley inquired as he half rose out of his chair.

"Actually, would you mind if I called one of James's house elves and asked them to bring lunch instead? It's been hours since breakfast and James is under strict orders not to miss any meals," Kurapika countered as he glanced up at the taller man; the Blacklist Hunter using Azalea's alias in order to reinforce the need to keep Azalea's wizarding identity separate from her Hunter identity – even though she'd apparently told the truth to the Prime Minister and the Queen during her audience.

"Go right ahead, Mr. Evans," Kingsley allowed as he returned to his seat and shifted the piles of paperwork on his desk around so that there was a clear section on the desk that could be used as a table.

Dobby appeared just seconds later with a tray piled high with fresh fruit, raw vegetables, and tuna sandwiches that he set down on the desk (before Kurapika could call on one of the elves). Minky popped in next with a tea service that held a fresh pot of tea, a pitcher of cranberry juice, and Azalea's after meal potion. Tanker was the last one to arrive and he had brought a platter of freshly baked biscuits and enough plates, cups, and glasses for all three occupants. The three elves vanished a heartbeat later, leaving behind a bewildered Minister, a bemused Hunter, and a slightly exasperated witch.

"The efficiency of those elves never ceases to amaze me," Kurapika remarked with more than a little fondness as he dished up Azalea's plate for her before pouring her a glass of juice.

"Stubborn, devious, and altogether far too intuitive for my health," Azalea grouched halfheartedly as she curled up in the chair and nibbled on a carrot stick. "I couldn't have made it through the last year without them, though; especially these past five months. At least I managed to avoid being saddled with additional elves during the raids."

"Funny you should mention those displaced elves," Kingsley interjected with open amusement. "Amos Diggory, the new Department Head for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, has requested to meet with you at your earliest convenience in order to discuss the fate of sixteen house elves that have apparently been demanding to bond with you in light of the role you played in freeing them from their former families."

"Please tell me you are joking," Azalea begged as she paused with a sandwich halfway to her mouth.

"I'm afraid not."

"Do you know how difficult it was to find work for the four elves I already have?" Azalea demanded as she shook her sandwich at the Minister.

"No where near as difficult as it has been to find work for the one hundred and twenty-seven house elves that you displaced during your raids," Kingsley countered dryly. "You should be thankful that Amos talked the other one hundred and eleven elves into bonding with the Ministry, St. Mungo's, Hogwarts, and a handful of wizarding families. That's not even taking into consideration all of the other displaced creatures; such as the white peacocks from the Malfoys, the herd of stolen winged racehorses that the Notts had smuggled into the country, or the trio of kelpies that Mulciber had kept as watch guards."

"Dobby is going to cry, Kreacher is going to glare, Minky is going to pout, Tanker is going to scowl, and when all four of them inevitably blame me for their reduced workload, I'm going to blame you and give them permission to duplicate your paperwork for the rest of your term in office."

"My paperwork already propagates on its own without you taking out your frustrations over the results of your altruistic crusades on my workload," Kingsley retorted as he gave Azalea a stern glare.

"We can deal with the elves and threaten the Minister with embarrassing pranks later, James," Kurapika interjected before she could come up with a response. "Right now you need to eat."

"Yes, mother," Azalea grumbled before complying with the order.

"The Lead Unspeakable would also like to speak with you at some point," Kingsley stated after ten minutes had passed in near complete silence as Azalea finished her sandwich and most of the fruit on her plate. "They have several questions that they wished to ask you about the wooden swords that were found in the Dark Lord's body and have also asked to view the memory of your duel with You-Know-Who."

"Is that your way of telling me that they want to interrogate me in regards to the prophecy?"

"No, but I'm certain they'll ask you about that as well."

"Joy… I don't know when I'll have the time to see them; my week is still pretty full. I suppose I could leave them a copy of my memory to tide them over for a year or two though."

Kingsley laughed at that before he offered, "I can draw a copy of the memory for you before you leave and send it down to the Department of Mysteries and advise them to contact you about setting up an appointment for an interview with you after the wedding."

"I can live with that. Any other departments looking to exploit… er talk with me?"

"Yes; Gawain Robards, Head of the Auror Office, asked me to collect the names of the individuals that were part of the Order of the Phoenix under your leadership so their names can be included on the monument fountain and their deputy auror badges can be commissioned. The Department of International Magical Cooperation will need the names of all non-British magicals that have been invited to attend your wedding so they can coordinate any private security measures for high profile individuals with the security measures we will be implementing. And lastly, the Department of Magical Transportation will need numbers and the countries of origin so proper precautions can be taken to manage the increase in incoming and outgoing traffic before and after the event."

"I will have Dobby bring you a copy of the guest list before the end of the day and if you have a quill and parchment I can borrow, I can give you the names of the new Order right now… er, right after lunch," Azalea corrected after receiving a nudge and pointed look from Kurapika. "Was that everything…?"

"Only one last thing; I will need a brief report on your audience with the Queen so I know what to expect if they should approach me with additional questions."

"That's simple," Azalea quipped as she ate a cube of pineapple before she leaned back in her chair and pinned Kingsley with tired emeralds eyes that reflected the lamplight in the office, much like the eyes of her animagus form. "I told them everything."

"What do you mean you told them everything?" Kingsley demanded with a slight frown.

"It means that I held nothing back… I told them about Tom's childhood, the horcruxes, the things that happened during my five years at Hogwarts, Sirius's lack of a proper trial and his innocence, all of the Death Eaters I killed, and Fudge's corrupt administration. They now know about Umbridge's illegal prosecution of the muggleborns after Scrimgeour's death, Dumbledore skirting the corners of a few laws, the prejudices that run rampant in the wizarding world, and the slanderous articles that were printed about a number of individuals over the past few years."

"I also told them the truth about the current state of the wizarding world; the economic crisis that is barely being staved off with the money the Order claimed, the fact that the Ministry is still floundering, that Hogwarts has been temporarily closed for a number of reasons, and that the wizarding public is still terrified even if they have been celebrating the Dark Lord's demise. I left nothing out… and while I didn't have all of the answers, I certainly gave them far more information in far greater detail than they originally expected."

"That was mostly due to the fact that Dumbledore had left me a good number of personal journals that he'd written throughout his lifetime along with quite a few very informative memories that he'd collected through the years. I had spent quite a bit of time pouring over all of that information during the weeks between Dumbledore's death and my return to the wizarding world. To say that Her Majesty was less than pleased to learn that a number of your predecessors had outright lied to their muggle counterparts over the past four or five decades would be an understatement."

"Do you have any idea just how many laws you've broken?" Kingsley demanded in a hard tone that was laced with both fear and anger.

"None," Azalea flatly retorted with a frown as she unflinchingly held his gaze. "I am no longer bound by your laws."

"Are you trying to destroy us!?"

"Please, you and I both know that I don't have to destroy the wizarding world; you've been bloody well destroying it yourselves for the past century. There have been sixteen dark lords in the past century and two of them have nearly exposed the entire magical world to the muggles during their bids for power. If something is not done to change things now, then you can expect the next dark lord to crop up within the next five to ten years."

"I will agree that some magical traditions are important and worth protecting in most cases but many of the traditions of the wizarding world are killing it because it forces us to kill each other or it chases the greatest talent back into the muggle world because of the rampant prejudice. As it stands right now, you can bet your ass my children will never set foot in the wizarding world if things go back to the way it was before Voldemort's return."

"How can you say that?"

"Very easily; it was the wizarding world that held me up as a savior simply because my parents died protecting me and it was the wizarding world that beat me down time and time again for not being the person that they expected me to be from the moment that I first set foot in Diagon Alley on my eleventh birthday. The very same wizarding world that had left me with my _magic hating_ muggle relatives for ten horrible years while it used my name and face to paint glorious lies about my life."

"I entered this world filled with hope and not only did it attempt to break me, this world expected me to clean up their problems because I was the Girl-Who-Lived. The entire wizarding world looked at me and saw me as their scapegoat, their savior, and their scourge. Hell, the wizarding world wasn't even willing to see that I was properly trained before it demanded that I take care of Voldemort and then dared to accuse me of going dark because I chose to end the war on my terms to insure that it ended quickly so as to spare as many innocents as possible."

"Kitten, you need to calm down," Kurapika softly instructed as he deftly inserted himself between Azalea and the Minister.

"No, we need to leave," Azalea countered as she stood up and grabbed hold of Kurapika's arm. While she waited for Fawkes to transport them back to Grimmauld Place, she directed a final parting shot at the interim Minister. "I had thought you would be different from both of your predecessors but you didn't even consider the fact that you threw me to the wolves when you sent me to meet with the Queen alone and yet you had the audacity to take me to task because I answered their questions? And you still wonder why I've grown to dislike, if not outright hate, the wizarding world?"

Fawkes picked that moment to flame them both out of Kingsley's office without waiting for Azalea to grab his tail feathers; the phoenix latching his talons into Azalea's dragon hide cloak and whisking them away while leaving behind a poleaxed Kingsley. Kreacher made a brief appearance immediately after they'd left; the crotchety old elf collecting the left over food along with the tea service and dishes (going so far as to take the Minister's unfinished lunch as well). The moment they landed in their shared bedroom… Sirius's old bedroom… Azalea let out a frustrated scream before bursting into tears.

Strong arms encircled her a moment later and Azalea buried her face against Kurapika's shoulder as she continued to bawl; a small part of her wondering what the hell was wrong with her because she wasn't usually this emotional. The storm eventually passed and Azalea found herself being lifted up and carried into the bathroom where a warm tub of water piled high with bubbles was waiting for her. Kurapika then helped her get undressed and held her steady as she stepped into the tub before he disappeared after promising that he'd be back in a little while.

The pleasantly warm water and soothing bath oils that Minky had added to the water felt wonderful and Azalea felt most of her tension melting, though she was still rather hurt and offended over Kingsley's accusations. Eventually, her long, exhausting, and overly emotional morning coupled with the soothing bath lulled Azalea to sleep as she propped her arms on the side of the tub to pillow her head. Kurapika woke her up roughly a half hour later when he drained the water from the tub and rinsed the suds from her body before wrapping her up in a warm, fluffy robe and carrying her back to the bedroom.

She was a bit surprised to find the room dimly lit with just a handful of scented candles and a stereotypical bearskin rug along with a scattering of rose petals spread out in front of the suspiciously new fireplace that now sat against the north wall. Azalea blinked at the rather romantic setting before glancing up at Kurapika with a questioning gaze. Her fiancé was grinning down at her with a borderline smirk that told her that he was pleased with himself.

"I thought a little pampering was in order after your rough morning," Kurapika explained as he knelt down and gently deposited her in the middle of the rug. "We also haven't really had anything resembling a date since our birthdays and I figured a romantic winter afternoon spent in front of the fireplace would be just the ticket to help you relax."

Words failed the pregnant witch as she smiled tenderly at the teen that had captured her attention almost from the moment she'd officially met him. Most certainly from the moment they'd shared a bit of their personally history on top of Trick Tower and without a doubt from the moment she'd first seen his eyes alight with scarlet fire. Her feelings had quickly snowballed from that point forward and they'd rolled right over the doubts and insecurities that had plagued her from the moment she realized she was drawn to him.

It was almost hard to believe that this time last year she'd been desperately trying to repress her feelings for the blond because of the prophecy and the belief that he wouldn't want her if he'd known she was a girl.

And now here she was carrying Kurapika's children and planning their wedding; it was surreal.

Azalea was pulled from her woolgathering as she felt Kurapika settling beside her before he gently pulled her backwards so that she was propped up against his thighs and facing him as he lay on half his side propped up against a few pillows that she hadn't noticed earlier. He then snagged a crystal bowl filled with an assortment of cubed fresh fruit and another bowl filled with chocolate fondue (the bowl charmed to keep the melted chocolate at the perfect temperature). The two of them would then spend the next hour feeding each other bites of chocolate smothered fruit as they talked about the future.

Specifically, they talked about the boys; offering up potential names, wondering which one of them the twins would take after, and how they each imagined raising the boys. Azalea even timidly spoke about some of the little daydreams she'd had about the babies since she'd first learned she was pregnant. Speaking about how she'd imagined a pair of mischievous four year olds stealing daddy's swords, the inevitable lessons to teach their sons how to properly use the swords, enchanting tea parties with daddy dressed in a flowery apron while he was instructed on how to be a proper lady, and of course, the tender moment of watching him reading bedtime stories to the little ones.

Kurapika had reciprocated as he told her that he could picture her curled up in a rocking chair humming to one or both of the boys while Hedwig watched over them from the back of the chair, watching her give the boys a bubble bath and looking like a drowned rat soaked to the bone and covered with suds, and seeing her entertain the children by playing tag with them in one of her animagus forms. He also confessed that he'd tried to imagine what it would be like to train his sons once they were old enough but that he never seemed to know how to start.

Azalea could commiserate with her lover; there were times when she was almost terrified of the twins because she'd never before seen a baby up close, let alone held one or cared for one.

By that time they'd filled up on fruit and Azalea took her afternoon dose of Mother's Helpmate as the conversation veered towards more mundane, if important, topics such as; where they would live, whether one or both of them would work, if they should hire a nanny (or just rely upon the house elves), and who they would trust to raise the twins if, heaven forbid, something happened to both of them (they were both Hunters whose soul focus was bringing dangerous criminals to heel, after all).

They also discussed their financial situation and Kurapika was more than a little shocked to learn that Azalea could be considered a millionaire many times over and that she was one of the richest witches in all of Europe (partially due to all of the vaults she'd claimed since she'd returned to the wizarding world but mostly because of what was left to her by both her parents and godfather).

Over the course of the afternoon, they both learned quite a bit about one another as their previous conversations had mostly been about training, duties, unpleasant pasts, and their uncertain futures while this time they'd focused on their hopes, dreams, fears, and still uncertain futures. More importantly, they'd focused on working to create a life together; one of the harder aspects of forging a permanent relationship – compromise doesn't always come easy; especially not for a pair of highly stubborn individuals used to running the whole show on their own.

Supper would be eaten on the rug in much the same fashion as their combination late lunch slash after lunch snack of fruit and chocolate; one bite at a time as they fed each other. After the meal, Kurapika produced a bottle of scented lotion and gave Azalea a massage; starting with her feet and working his way up. He paid quite a bit of attention to her belly as the twins kicked and shifted inside of her. Azalea was half asleep by the time he finished and all of her earlier frustration had long since been forgotten as he gently collected her from the rug and tucked her into their bed.

The last thing she registered before sleep claimed her completely was the warmth of Kurapika's naked body pressing close to her as he slid beneath the covers and spooned up against her before he rested one hand over distended belly.

* * *

Azalea sighed as she wearily climbed to her feet with Kurapika's help after her standard morning ritual of emptying her stomach. She was sick and tired of throwing up; no pun intended. The only positive thing about her morning sickness was that it was now strictly confined to the morning thanks to the Mother's Helpmate potion the goblins were providing for her. She supposed it also helped that she was no longer running about all over the country hunting down Death Eaters day in and day out; though, truth be told she'd stopped hunting Voldemort's minions months ago.

"Did you want me to fetch you some peppermint tea and toast?"

"Not right now… I'd much rather curl back up in bed and sleep for another day or two."

"I'd love to let you but you have your appointment with Healer Beestung and Dr. Mackle this morning and Chairman Netero agreed to meet with you later this afternoon," Kurapika reminded her gently. "I'm certainly not opposed to you sleeping for a few more hours in the mean time though. I can go through any mail you received yesterday and set aside anything that needs your immediate attention as well as check on the status of our wedding plans with Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Lupin while you rest."

"You do know that they are going to start hexing you in tender places soon if you don't start calling them by their first names soon, right? Or maiden name in Tonks's case as she'd hex you if you even thought about speaking her first name out loud. "

"You'd let them flirt with me?"

"Prat," Azalea retorted with a soft laugh as she crawled back into bed. "You're still the only one I know that considers a proper hexing to be flirting."

"Hmm, no, Mr. Lupin agrees with me and he even told me that your mother regularly flirted with your father from the moment they met and that that was why your father never gave up on your mother."

"Figures… once a Marauder always a Marauder," Azalea groused even as a smile played about her lips.

"Go back to sleep, kitten," Kurapika instructed through his chuckles as he brushed a tender kiss to her lips. "I'll wake you up a half an hour before Healer Beestung is due to arrive."

When Kurapika woke her up at eight-thirty, Azalea felt like she hadn't slept at all and would have rolled over and gone back to sleep if not for the fact that she knew she had things to do today. Sighing, she reluctantly dragged herself out of bed, took a quick shower, and got dressed in a set of the maternity clothes that Minky had either purchased or made for her (this outfit comprised of black slacks and a Gryffindor red peasant's blouse with a golden lion on the front). She then took a moment to braid her hair before she allowed Kurapika to carry her down to the kitchen so she could eat breakfast before the healer arrived.

At five minutes to nine, Azalea was sitting in the only chair in the parlor waiting for everyone to arrive.

Fawkes, who had been sent to the Association's Headquarters, was the first to arrive with an extra two passengers in tow. Azalea barely had time to greet Chairman Netero (who wasn't supposed to be there until four), Dr. Mackle, and Mizuken (who hadn't been expected at all) before Healer Beestung and an older goblin that she briefly recalled seeing at her most recent meeting with Bonerage arrived via portkey. Healer Beestung made a beeline for Azalea in order to eye the young witch critically even as Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall stepped out of the fireplace.

Azalea sighed as she eyed the small crowd standing in the parlor of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix before she cleared her throat and introduced the arrivals to one another (only omitting the goblin names as custom dictated – as only a goblin could name another goblin without insulting the beings). She then directed the group to the drawing room and asked Kreacher to provide tea and refreshments for her guests (Healer Beestung giving a grunt of disapproval when Azalea insisted on walking the short distance).

Kurapika deflected the glare he was given by the stern healer when he calmly informed her that he consistently carried Azalea up and down the stairs (his comments promptly being translated into gobbledygook for the healer by the older goblin). It only took a few minutes after that short exchange for everyone to seat themselves and for Kreacher to provide them each with a cup of freshly brewed tea and an assortment of snacks.

"So, was there a memo regarding a meeting that I missed or something?" Azalea inquired as she tore the raspberry, almond, and white chocolate scone she'd been served into bite sized pieces and stacked them up in a pyramid on her plate (the witch still rather full from breakfast). "I wasn't expecting quite this many people to show up this morning."

"I thought I would save your friend from needing to make an extra trip by tagging along with Dr. Mackle since we were both coming to the same destination," Chairman Netero replied with a chuckle.

"I needed to discuss your upcoming N.E.W.T.s with you and clarify a few things in regards to the wedding; I thought it would be easiest to meet with you in person instead of trying to get everything ironed out in a series of letters." Professor McGonagall casually answered the moment he'd finished speaking.

"What, can't I visit my two favorite pupils?" Mizuken asked with feigned innocence when Azalea expectantly turned her gaze to him next.

Azalea snorted in disbelief before she retorted, "Your two favorite guinea pigs, you mean."

"No time tiny talk, time check babies," Healer Beestung interjected before anyone else could make a comment.

"Professor McGonagall, Fleur and Tonks are in the War Room right now; they've been helping Kurapika and I to plan the wedding and they should be able to answer most of the question you have about what plans have been made to date," Azalea stated as all three medical professionals plus the goblin translator rose to their feet.

"Chairman Netero, if you'd like; I can have one of my elves track down Remus and he can give you a bit of background information. He can also provide the magic necessary for you to view my memories of the major battles and key events that took place after I returned to the wizarding world. The only one missing is the final battle against Riddle but I can draw that one out for you later."

"That would be appreciated," Chairman Netero readily agreed.

"Dobby!"

"Mistress Azalea called for Dobby?" the excitable elf inquired as he popped into the room before Azalea even finished calling his name.

"Yes; could you please fetch my pensieve, the box holding my stored memories, and ask Remus to entertain Chairman Netero and Hunter Mizuken for a couple of hours?"

"Right away, Mistress Azalea," Dobby replied with an eager head bob before he popped away to fulfill the request.

"I suppose that covers everything… if you need anything, you can ask one of the elves," Azalea murmured before she turned to Kurapika and asked, "Did you want to stay and view the memories or did you want to sit in on my exam?"

"I'll come with you, kitten," Kurapika answered as he scooped her up into his arms. "I can always watch the memories another time but our boys will only be babies once and I'd rather not miss out on anything else."

"I'm sorry…"

"Shush, I wasn't blaming you for anything; I was merely making an observation. Now, which room did you want me to carry you to?"

"First floor, second door to the right; it's already pretty much set up as an examination room for the times when Madam Pomfrey was called to Headquarters to deal with any injuries that we couldn't treat ourselves."

* * *

**AN: **_Sorry I couldn't get this up last weekend but Unbound Soul was hogging all of my attention as I wrapped up the current arc there. The good news is that I've finally finished that and can give my attention to a few others stories now. So, you can expect another chapter or two on this story to be posted this weekend and I'm also updating Have Fox this weekend alongside of another two chapters of Unbound Soul. Not sure which story I'll be moving onto after that though; since there's a few that could really use a little of my attention. ~ Jenn  
_


	46. Of Babies x Charms x and War

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Forty-Six: Of Babies x Charms x and War

Kurapika barely settled Azalea on the hospital bed that had replaced the two twin sized bed that used to occupy the room when Dr. Mackle handed her a paper gown and ordered, "Go ahead and strip out of your clothes and put that on; open side to the front this time."

"Um… what?"

"Your clothes are in the way and I will need to do a complete exam."

"But…"

"Don't just stand there; hop to it, young lady," Madam Pomfrey instructed as she conjured a privacy screen for Azalea to change behind. "My free time this morning is limited; I have patients waiting for me back at Hogwarts."

Azalea sighed and grumbled about tyrannical healers and doctors as she slipped off of the bed and ducked behind the screen to change. While she was undressing, Azalea heard the two goblins speak in gobbledygook for a moment before the male goblin (the translator) addressed Madam Pomfrey.

"The esteemed Healer Beestung has requested a verbal summary of all examinations you have performed on your mutual patient since the conception of the children. A detailed written report, sent to Healer Beestung at your leisure, would also be greatly appreciated."

"Miss Potter, I have been approached by a fellow healer in regards to your current condition; do I have your permission to speak freely?"

"Yes, you have my permission to speak with Healer Beestung, Dr. Mackle, Kurapika, and Healer Beestung's honorable goblin translator about my pregnancy; they are all already aware of my condition. You also have permission to provide them with any reports or paperwork as necessary."

"Thank you, Miss Potter."

"Why exactly would she need your permission to consult with the others about your condition?" Kurapika inquired as Azalea stepped out from behind the partition with her hands tightly gripping the edges of the flimsy paper hospital gown she now wore in her efforts to preserve her modesty.

"_I first learned of Miss Potter's pregnancy and conducted an initial exam on the evening of September first…_" Madam Pomfrey began reciting in the background.

"I demanded a healer's oath from Madam Pomfrey before I would allow her to treat me on the day that I first learned I was pregnant because I was terrified of Voldemort learning about the babies. Her oath prevents her from speaking about my pregnancy and my health with out my direct consent from the moment she gave me her oath; didn't you think it odd that she never specifically mentioned my pregnancy when we met with her on Saturday evening?"

"No, I was not exactly thinking clearly at the time; however, she did speak about the rather poor condition you'd been in upon arriving at Hogwarts," Kurapika admitted with the trace of a blush over the reference to him losing his temper.

"Go ahead and take a seat on the foot of the bed, kid; leaving your legs hanging over the side of the lower end. Young man, grab a few of the pillow stacked up in the corner and set them up behind the kid so she'll be propped up a bit when she lays back," Dr. Mackle instructed as he pulled a table over and began pulling out an assortment of equipment from the black doctor's bag he'd brought with him; a stethoscope, a syringe, a blood pressure cuff, several empty vials, a urine sample cup, one-sided q-tips that were ten inches long (individually sealed), a stack of petri dishes, and a box of latex gloves just to name a few.

"That's because the oath she gave did not encompass my past health history. If not for the war and the fact that Snape was the headmaster at the time, I probably never would have asked her for the oath in the first place."

"…_I only saw her three more times after that; the most recent one being back at the start of December…_"

"I need you to take several slow, deep breaths for me now," Dr. Mackle stated as he put on his stethoscope and placed the chest piece between her breasts beneath the gown; the cold metal disk drawing a shiver and a muttered complaint from the witch. "Good, now take a deep breath and hold it for me."

The doctor then took her blood pressure, drew a couple vials of blood, sent her to the bathroom to provide a urine sample, and examined both her breasts and her stomach. There'd been a brief moment when she'd frozen up and near panicked when he'd slipped on a pair of gloves and prepared to examine her internally (her mind recalling the distressing examination that followed Hisoka's attack) but Kurapika had distracted her. The last thing he'd done was take some fluid samples to reconfirm that she did not have any sexually transmitted diseases or other venereal problems.

The man had barely finished up with his exam when Madam Pomfrey took over and began running magical scans over every inch of Azalea's body; doing a complete in-depth medical scan (something she'd not bothered doing the last four times she'd seen the healer because of how little time they'd had for her check-ups). The familiarity of the wand movements and the lack of touch required for the magical exam helped Azalea to completely relax as the memory of the attack sunk back into the shadows of her mind once more.

While Madam Pomfrey was busy scanning her, Dr. Mackle found himself being grilled by the two goblins in regards to the exams that he'd put Azalea through after learning she was pregnant; which also included his assessment of her condition after her battle with Voldemort earlier that month). Azalea tried to listen into their conversation but found that her attention quickly monopolized by Madam Pomfrey as the healer began asking her questions.

"Are you still experiencing morning sickness all day long, dear?"

"No, not since before the battle," Azalea replied. "Kurapika told me that Dr. Mackle had given me something to counter the nausea after Fawkes flashed me out of Hogwarts. Since we've returned to Grimmauld Place, I've been taking a potion after each meal that Healer Beestung gave to me called Mother's Helpmate and I've only been throwing up once each morning now."

"Good, are you eating properly now? Three full meals a day with appropriate portions and servings?"

"Yes; the elves have been monitoring my meals very closely, as has Kurapika."

"Her appetite has improved since she started taking the potion on Saturday," Kurapika added from beside Azalea.

"Much easier to eat when you don't have to worry about it coming right back up; partially digested tuna never tastes nice the second time around, believe me, I know," Azalea groused as she reached out and poked Kurapika in the side.

"I'll keep that in mind if I ever suffer from morning sickness," Kurapika quipped with a straight face.

"Prat!"

"There is a spell that will allow the father to experience 'sympathy symptoms' in order to help them understand what their pregnant significant other is experiencing," Madam Pomfrey interjected and Azalea shot Kurapika a wicked grin while the blond paled drastically.

"You know, I've always considered myself to be a very observant individual and I've seen how much stress Zalea has been under this past few days and I've been doing my very best to ease her discomfort and see to it that she's taking care of herself."

"Oh, I don't know, Kura; think of it as an opportunity for some first hand experience," Azalea crowed as her eyes danced with mirth and mischief.

"Are you implying that I've not been sympathetic enough these past few days?"

"No; I just thought you would like to have a leg up on the competition… don't all men wonder what women think and how we cope with things like pregnancy and periods?"

"There is no way to gracefully bow out of this without looking like a complete jerk or a pansy is there?"

"No but it is always entertaining to watch men try," Madam Pomfrey laughingly quipped before she returned to questioning Azalea. "Now that we've established Mr. Evans's healthy respect for your condition; can you tell me if you are still having trouble sleeping?"

"No, but I'm still tired all of the time. I've taken between two and three naps a day since I woke up. Yesterday was an exception but that was not by choice seeing as how I was summoned to appear before the Queen and then Shacklebolt was being a political ponce and…"

"And…?" Madam Pomfrey prompted when Azalea trailed off.

"I don't know. One second I was just tired and worn out and the next I was yelling at Kingsley and I was so mad at him that I left before our meeting was over but the moment we got home it was like someone flipped a switch and all I could do was bawl my eyes out."

"Mood swings are a rather common occurrence during the later stages of pregnancy, dear," Madam Pomfrey gently pointed out as she paused in her wand waving for a moment before continuing. "It is usually due to a hormone imbalance and a woman's hormones are always fluctuating during pregnancy or during their menstrual cycle. It isn't uncommon for the smallest of things to set off their temper or to send them into a flood tears."

"I don't do mood swings," Azalea deadpanned as she leveled a look of disbelief at the witch. "I do angry, I do quiet, and I do angst. Occasionally, I manage to find happiness and I'm really good at panic or abject fear when I'm caught off guard but I don't go from a towering rage to a puddle of pathetic in zero point twenty-three seconds. If anything, the first thing I do is cut off all of my emotions; except when Snape is involved because he used to just piss me off when he ragged on my dad constantly during potions and when I was taking those supposed Occlumency lessons he was giving me in fifth year."

"That probably has more to do with your ingrained responses to the way your relatives raised you," Kurapika declared as he scowled at the floor. "I've seen you cut off all of your emotions and it isn't a normal response. I wouldn't be surprised if you've had mood swings in the past and just not noticed them because you cut off your emotions at the time instead of allowing them to play out."

"Moving on," Madam Pomfrey interjected just before Azalea could make a retort. "Have you been experiencing any sharp pains?"

"No, just minor aches and pains in my back and hips; as if I'd spent too much time on a broom or carried too many books in my book bag."

"That too is normal; especially when a woman is carrying multiple fetuses. Have the babes been active?"

"I think the better question would be; is there any time when they are not active," Azalea snorted with a laugh. "Of course, they're always more active at night; especially after I crawl into bed."

"Get used to it, Miss Potter; newborns are not known for sleeping through the night."

"I know… I read the books you suggested. And with as wonky as my sleep schedule has been, I don't think that will be all that much of an issue."

"Sleep will be just as important for you after you have the babies as it is for you to get plenty of rest now," Dr. Mackle intoned as he stepped up beside the bed along with both goblins.

"If you are finished, Madam Healer, Healer Beestung wishes to examine her patient now," the translator interjected as soon as Dr. Mackle finished speaking.

"I just finished," Madam Pomfrey replied as she stepped back out of the way.

Azalea sighed wearily as the goblin healer stepped forward and began her exam; all the while silently wondering if she'd lost her bloody mind when she agreed to allow _three_ doctors slash healers to conspire together over her health. A sharp kick from one of the twins reminded her that it wasn't just her health involved any more and she bit back her frustration and dislike for people fussing over her. She was more than willing to put up with almost anything if it meant insuring that both of her boys would be born healthy.

Bringing her attention back to the present, Azalea focused on Healer Beestung as the diminutive goblin ran through nearly the exact same sequence of steps she'd used the first time she'd seen the healer on Saturday. The only real differences were the fact that she didn't draw any of Kurapika's blood, wasn't asking Azalea any questions, and only drew enough blood from Azalea for two potions. When she reached the point where she was settling the square frame on Azalea's belly (after applying a layer of potion to her skin), anticipation sang through Azalea as she reached out to grab hold of Kurapika's tabard and pulled him close.

"You have got to see this," Azalea whispered excitedly as she sat up just a bit more; the young mother-to-be unaware that Kurapika had seen a copy of the photo that had been taken the first time. Her words did garner the attention of Dr. Mackle though, and the man moved closer out of curiosity. "I couldn't believe my eyes the first time she did this but this is the kind of awe inspiring magic that makes all of the bad stuff seem so insignificant."

Seconds later, the potion induced window into the world of her womb was opened and both boys could be seen clear as day while they floated within the amniotic fluid (one of them seemingly sucking his thumb while the other shifted as his foot kicked out and made the image ripple for a moment. Azalea couldn't help but giggle and murmur something about how that one must take after her since he obviously had a healthy dislike for being ogled. That had garnered her more than a couple of amused snorts in return. Healer Beestung immediately addressed her companion in gobbledygook as she gestured at Azalea's belly before waving in Madam Pomfrey's direction.

"Healer Beestung is greatly worried that the babes do not have enough room and that their development will be stunted due to the lack of space. There is also concern that the babes will do the mother harm if they grow too much larger," the translator explained a moment later. "Female goblins never give birth to more than one child every six to eight months and few goblin females are so skinny that they do not have room for their babes naturally. Goblin healers are not able to create more room inside of the womb using goblin magic since there is no need for such a thing; is this something human magic can do?"

"Yes; there is a spell that will expand the womb in order to both make room for multiple fetuses and ease the stress on the witch that is carrying more than one child and allow the woman to carry all of the children to full term," Madam Pomfrey replied as she leaned over the small frame to study the two babies. "Miss Potter is unusually small for her age and I had anticipated needing to cast the spell when I first learned she was pregnant."

The two goblins held another short conversation in gobbledygook before the translator asked, "Are you prepared to cast the spell now or do you need more time to prepare? The babes will need room as soon as possible in order to reduce the stress both mother and babies are feeling."

"It will only take a few minutes for me to prepare. The room will need to be locked to prevent outside disruptions and distractions before I start; interrupting the process would have dire consequences for both mother and children. Healer Beestung will also need to remove the viewing window as it will interfere with my casting."

A few minutes later, Azalea had been strapped down to the table (in order to prevent her from moving and disrupting the spell) and Kurapika had been temporarily kicked out of the room. Healer Beestung, the translator, and Dr. Mackle were watching from a trio of seats beside the door where they would not be in the way.

"I need you to relax as best as you can, dear," Madam Pomfrey instructed as she stepped up beside the bed and rolled up her sleeves. "The spell will cause some acute discomfort but no actual pain so long as you don't tense up your abdominal muscles. Here we go, Miss Potter."

So saying, the school matron tapped the tip of her wand to Azalea's bellybutton three times as she intoned the Latin incantation for the viewing spell that would allow her to monitor the progress of the specialized expansion spell. Violet colored mist rose up out of Azalea's belly and shimmered for a moment before it solidified into a three dimensional hologram of her womb and the twins. Madam Pomfrey then inserted her wand into Azalea's birth canal in order to cast the womb expansion spell through the least number of obstructions.

Azalea took a shaky breath and closed her eyes as she tried to relax as instructed; no easy task given how uncomfortable she felt at that moment. Only the knowledge that the spell being cast upon her would ultimately help the twins allowed her to soldier through the ordeal. When the first wave of magic hit the walls of her uterus, Azalea gasped as it felt like a hundred rubber bands had been wrapped around her distended womb. A spike of fear rushed through her before she shut off her emotions and focused on breathing in order to ignore the discomfort so that she could relax once more.

The second wave of magic seemed to seep right into her uterus and this time she shivered as the bands of magic from the first wave tightened. Azalea could feel her heart pounding in her chest as beads of sweat began forming along her brow when the third wave of magic hit her womb. The true discomfort bordering on pain began in that instant as she felt the inside of her womb start expanding while the outside of her uterus was slowly reduced to half of its former size. The seventeen year old mother-to-be smothered a scream as the contradictory feelings ripped through her stomach and all thoughts of relaxing fled from her mind.

The fourth wave of magic halted the shrinking of her uterus while the fifth wave stabilized the newly expanded inner womb to prevent the magically enlarged area from collapsing (something that would kill all three of them instantly). The sixth wave eased the position of the twins so that they both could take advantage of the extra space. The final two waves locked the first five portions of the spell into place and wove a protective barrier around her womb that would protect the spell in order to prevent a careless spell from unraveling the expansion spell.

Madam Pomfrey withdrew her wand the moment the final spell settled into place and discreetly cleaned it off before she began casting scans over Azalea's not-quite-so-distended belly. A soft sigh and a smile from the now tired witch indicated that there had been no issues with the spell and that both Azalea and the twins were unharmed. She then flicked her wand a couple of times to clean Azalea before she tucked away her wand, pulled the sheet back up to preserve Azalea's modesty, and gently wiped the sweat from Azalea's face.

"All done now, dear," Madam Pomfrey murmured as she brushed a few sweaty strands of hair out of Azalea's face and smiled gently at the younger witch. "Are you still feeling any pain?"

"Not exactly… just a dull ache and an uncomfortable tightness."

"The tightness should fade within an hour or two once your body adjusts to the changes. If your uterus is still aching once the tightness has disappeared, please call me immediately as that will mean that there was a problem with the casting that I missed."

"I will," Azalea replied automatically.

"Did you have any questions for me about the spell or your pregnancy?"

"Er, is it still safe to transform into my animagus form now that you cast that spell?" Azalea inquired as she considered the various scenarios where she might need to transform in order to escape trouble in the event that her usual luck kicked in when she was restricted from most forms of magical travel that would have allowed her to retreat quickly (since there were some places where Fawkes could not appear – such as in the muggle world.

"Yes, the spell on your womb will not be affected by a transformation but I would urge you to wait until your body has finished adjusting to the spell before you try and that you avoid spending hours at a time in your alternate form. I would also suggest that you avoid transforming completely once your due date draws near since I suspect you'd rather not give birth while in your animagus form; especially if it is a small form."

"Is safe check babies now?" Healer Beestung inquired as she interrupted the pair at that point without bothering to wait for the translator to step in this time as she stepped up beside Madam Pomfrey.

"Yes, go right ahead," Madam Pomfrey replied. "Was there anything you needed from me right now?"

The goblin translator stepped up to converse with Healer Beestung for a moment before he replied, "No, you are free to return to your duties at the school. Healer Beestung appreciates the time you have taken out of your busy schedule to meet with her and she will contact you if any complications arise that require human healing magic. Did you wish for Healer Beestung to send you weekly reports in regards to Miss Potter's condition?"

"Yes, please. I am willing to grant permission for both of you to call upon my personal house elf, Pinny, so that you can contact me quickly should the need arise. You may also use her services as a courier for the weekly reports in order to save time."

"I will make note of that in Miss Potter's file," the translator replied before he turned away from Madam Pomfrey; a clear dismissal.

"I shall be in touch, Miss Potter," Madam Pomfrey stated as she patted Azalea's hand before she headed towards the door.

"Goodbye, Madam Pomfrey; and thank you," Azalea called out before her attention was drawn back to the goblin healer as she once more opened up a potion based window into Azalea's womb.

"Fascinating," Dr. Mackle declared as he once again studied the image of the twins shifting about within her womb.

"Everything alright, kitten?" Kurapika asked as he slipped into the room the instant that Madam Pomfrey unlocked the door.

"I'm okay now, Kura."

Fifteen minutes later, the two goblins took their leave after confirming the date and time for her next appointment (exactly one week from today) while Dr. Mackle followed Kurapika and Azalea back down to the drawing room where Remus was still going through Azalea's memories with Mizuken and Chairman Netero. Kreacher turned up with lunch the moment Kurapika settled Azalea on the couch and the green eyed witch sighed tiredly as she picked at the food on her plate; not really hungry due to how exhausted and uncomfortable she felt at the moment.

After managing to eat half of what she'd been served and drinking down her next dose of potion, Azalea curled up on the couch (using Kurapika's lap for a pillow) and drifted off to sleep while she waited for the others to finish viewing the memories.

When Kurapika gently shook her awake two hours later, Azalea groggily (and reluctantly) sat up to accept the warm mug of hot chocolate that one of the elves must have delivered while she was asleep. It took approximately half the mug to wake Azalea up enough to remember where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. Once she was awake, the first thing she did was discard the mug in order to cradle her stomach as she searched inward for any traces of the ache or the uncomfortable tightness she'd felt earlier.

"Is everything alright, Zalea?" Kurapika asked with more than a little concern as he eyed the way she was holding her stomach.

"Yeah," Azalea murmured the moment her internal assessment indicated that nothing felt out of place aside from the fact that her stomach was noticeably smaller and that the endless shifting of the twins was far less noticeable. "It's just going to take a day or two to get used to the spell that Madam Pomfrey cast on me."

"Are you still up to answering a few questions or should we come back another day, young lady?" Chairman Netero inquired as he critically eyed her over the cup of green tea he was drinking.

"I'll be fine and I'd rather not put this off any longer," Azalea assured him as she reclaimed her hot chocolate and snuggled into Kurapika's side. "I also have at least two memories that you're going to want to see and the second one will probably answer most of your questions anyway."

"One of those memories has to be your fight with Voldemort but what is the other one?" Remus asked curiously as he finished returning the memory he'd just reviewed with the two older Hunters to the storage vial that Azalea had stored the copy in.

"The four and a half hour interrogation that Her Majesty subjected me to yesterday and the two meetings that I had with Shacklebolt before and after my meeting with the Queen."

"Ah, I suppose I should have expected you to show that one," Remus murmured as he pulled two empty vials from the box of memories and deftly labeled both of them with a flick of his wand. "Are you feeling up to pulling the copies yourself or would you like me to draw them out for you?"

"Could you please…? My wand is still tucked away in my bag upstairs."

"Why aren't you carrying your wand?"

"I am a little paranoid about losing my wand again after what happened to my first wand. So, knowing that I was going to see the Queen yesterday and that I'd be stripped of any potential weapons for her protection for the duration of my audience, I chose to leave my wand behind where I knew it would be safe rather than in an office where it could have potentially been stolen. I've not had any reason to use it since and so haven't yet bothered to dig it out of my bag."

"Moody would be ashamed of you for letting your wand out of your sight for one second longer than necessary," Remus teased with a small smirk as he drew his wand and approached Azalea. "Let me know when you're ready with the first memory."

"I don't need a wand; I can cast wandlessly," Azalea dryly reminded the werewolf before she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused on her fight with Voldemort earlier that month. It took her several minutes to reconstruct the entire memory in her mind (due to how mixed up her memories had been since she'd woken up in the Association's Infirmary). Once she was certain the full memory was prepared, she whispered a soft, "Go ahead, Moony."

The witch felt Remus tap her left temple with the tip of the wand before she felt something tugging at her mind as the memory of the final confrontation with Riddle was stretched out before it suddenly snapped back into place. Azalea had never liked the sensation of having a memory copied; it always felt far more uncomfortable than just pulling the original memory out but at least it was no where near as painful as Occlumency lessons with Snape. Opening her eyes, Azalea watched Remus deposit the memory he'd just copied into the pensieve before he turned back to her and raised his wand once more.

Knowing exactly what he wanted, Azalea closed her eyes again and this time focused on her memory from the previous morning starting from the moment she'd arrived in Shacklebolt's office and ending the moment Fawkes's flames had deposited her and Kurapika in her room once more. She purposefully left off the memory of her emotional melt down upon their return; she refused to allow anyone aside from Kurapika to see her so vulnerable. After preparing the memory, Azalea murmured her readiness and soon felt the memory stretching and snapping back into place a second time; this memory being temporarily stored in a vial so as not to get it mixed up with the first memory.

Letting out a soft sigh, Azalea opened her eyes once more, settled back against the back of the couch, and sipped at the remainder of her hot chocolate which someone had rewarmed for her (most likely one of the elves). From the corner of her eye she caught Kurapika intently staring at the pensieve on the table with a slight frown. She also didn't miss the brief concerned and contemplative glances that her fiancé cast in her direction every few seconds.

"If you want to watch the memory, Kura, go ahead; I'll be fine," Azalea told the blond the next time he glanced in her direction. "And I have no plans to go anywhere or do anything reckless the moment I am out of your sight."

Kurapika hesitated for a split second before he climbed to his feet and joined the other four adults that were preparing to enter the pensieve to view her memories (Dr. Mackle choosing to view the memory of her battle in order to better understand the injuries he'd treated after finding her in his Infirmary earlier that month). Azalea watched the five of them get sucked down into the swirling silver pool of her memory and briefly wondered if she should have given them a bit more warning about what they would see once they entered the memory of her fight with Riddle.

After a moment of introspection, Azalea came to the conclusion that another warning had been unnecessary since Remus had witnessed parts of the battle first hand and she had given the other four a rough summary on the battle already. She reevaluated her earlier assertion that the warning was unneeded a short while later when all five men were thrown out of the pensieve looking more than a little shaken. The clincher though was the shimmer of scarlet flames bleeding through the black contacts that Kurapika was wearing combined with the iciness radiating from her left earring; the eighteen year old was angry.

Azalea shrank in on herself the moment he turned towards her; the witch automatically fearing that he was angry with her for risking the lives of their unborn children. There was also a small part of her that still feared that Kurapika would come to hate her despite the older teen's assurances otherwise. Azalea couldn't help the way she flinched when Kurapika walked up to her and pulled her up onto her feet.

Her entire body tensed as she braced herself for the worst only to find herself more than a little confused when he just pulled her close, wrapped his arms tightly around her, and buried his face against her neck. She stood frozen for all off three seconds until she realized that Kurapika was shaking at the same time that she felt his tears soaking her skin and shirt. It was at that moment that she realized that Kurapika wasn't angry; he had been frightened by what he'd witnessed in her memory.

That he'd been terrified by how close he'd come to losing both her and the twins during the final confrontation.

"It's over," Azalea whispered as the tension fled from her body and pressed herself closer to Kurapika as she wrapped her arms around him in return. "He's gone."

"I want to be angry with you for being so reckless," Kurapika muttered thickly against her neck.

"I'm sor…"

"Don't. Please don't. Don't apologize for fighting to end the threat he represented. I may not like the fact that you had such a large part to play in the recent war but I also know that you didn't have much of a choice in the matter. And if you had chosen to walk away, then you wouldn't be the person that I fell in love with."

"I wasn't going to apologize for facing Riddle one last time," Azalea corrected as she pressed her cheek against Kurapika's head and buried the fingers of her right hand in his hair. "I was trying to apologize for not warning you about just how intense that fight was before you saw it. I know we talked about it briefly last week once I woke up but I also know that I didn't really give you any details about the actual battle. There's just been so much else going on and…"

"We've had a hundred and one other things drawing our attention," Kurapika finished as he pulled back just enough to sweep Azalea into his arms before he sat down on the couch, settled her onto his lap, and pulled her close to him once more. "Like I said, I want to be angry with you for being reckless but I'm not. Seeing the green light of the death spell wrapping around you the way it did… knowing what that spell can do after watching some of your other memories and knowing that you'd been a hair's breadth away from dying again _hurt_. The mere thought that I nearly lost you and the boys towards the end of that fight _kills_ because I don't think I could live without you. I don't _want_ to live without you."

Kurapika released Azalea and put just enough distance between them so he could reach up to cup her face with both of his hands before he leaned forward to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. Like the very first time Kurapika kissed her, Azalea felt herself swept away on a tide of indescribable feelings. She was briefly distracted by the searing heat radiating from her left earring before all coherent thought was swept away by the desire flooding through her. A heartbeat later, she was pouring her heart and soul into the kiss as she finally dared to name what it was that she felt for Kurapika.

At the same time, her magic rose up in response to the tidal wave of intense emotions and swirled around her in a visible storm of gold and crimson flames. Eventually, the kiss ended as both teens reluctantly resurfaced for much needed air. Azalea's magic continued to swirl about them for another minute longer before it slowly withdrew back into her core as her racing heartbeat gradually slowed to a more moderate rate.

Once coherent thought returned to the seventeen year old, Azalea curled into Kurapika's arms and rested her cheek on his shoulder as she whispered out a heartfelt, "I stopped living the moment Fawkes carried me away from you and surviving these past five months without you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It would destroy me if I had to leave you again, Kurapika; I love you too much to live without you."

"I love you too, kitten," Kurapika breathed as the emotion fueling his scarlet eyes shifted from abject fear to sheer joy before he captured her lips in another kiss that was tender in extreme in response to hearing her say she loved him for the first time.

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**AN: **_Not too sure if there's anything that needs to be said here. The next chapter pretty much picks up from where this one left off and covers the rest of their meeting with Netero. I'll be posting that chapter tomorrow. ~ Jen _


	47. Discussions x and x Discoveries

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Forty-Seven: Discussions x and x Discoveries

While the two young Hunters were wrapped up in their own private little world and caught up in the storm of their emotions, Chairman Netero gathered his wits about him and garnered the attention of the other three adults (the two teens not quite qualifying in his mind simply because they were still so young despite their apparent maturity) in the room as he gestured to the pensieve and stated, "Mr. Lupin, would you be so kind as to take us back into that memory a second time? I need to observe that battle again in order to get a clearer picture of just what happened at the end. I am also very much interested in seeing that battle from another point of view or two."

"Of course, Master Hunter Netero," Remus replied respectfully (the werewolf addressing the man by the closest title for a man of Netero's position and experience based upon the wizarding world's hierarchy). "When we are finished, I'll draw out a copy of my memory of the final battle and if you stay for supper, I am certain that I can convince Alastor to allow you to view his memories of the battle after the meal. If not, any one of the Weasleys will undoubtedly offer you the chance to view their memories in his place."

"That would be most appreciated," Chairman Netero stated as they four men gathered around the rune-scribed bowl and were pulled down into Miss Potter's memory of the final battle a second time as they dipped a finger into the silvery liquid contained in the pensieve.

The memory began playing out once more shortly after the four of them had landed beside the memory of the petite witch whose memory they were watching. Chairman Netero kept his eyes entirely on Voldemort's visage this time instead of trying to keep his eyes on Miss Potter's hard to follow battle dance. He paid close attention to the emotions that played across the Dark Lord's face, the incantations he used (when he bothered to use them), the colors of the spells thrown from his wand, and the words he spat at his opponent.

Voldemort had just cast one of the only two spells that would actually hit Miss Potter and the spell that marked the fast approaching end of the fight when Netero sternly requested, "Can you stop the memory right there, Mr. Lupin?"

A heartbeat later the scene froze with Miss Potter standing right in front of Voldemort surrounded by a soft aura of gold, half invisible beneath her cloak, and a jet of green light connecting the tip Voldemort's wand to Miss Potter's unseen chest. Netero stepped right up to the two frozen fighters and intently studied the snarling visage of the Dark Lord before he peered closely at Voldemort's wand. He then placed his head right beside Voldemort's wand and closed one eye as he turned to follow the trajectory of the spell that was still connected to the piece of wood.

He let out a contemplative hum as he noted that the original path the spell should have taken based upon where the wand was aimed did not match up with the actual path that the spell had taken. Pulling away from Voldemort, he positioned himself halfway between the two magicals and traced the spell's path to the point where the trajectory deviated from its original course; which just happened to be the point at which the spell had brushed up against Miss Potter's new wand. He then continued tracing the spell's path until it reached the fabric of the special cloak that half hid Miss Potter's body from view.

"Neil, remind me again; did you find any chest injuries on Miss Potter when you began treating her after her unexpected arrival earlier this month?" Netero instructed as he leaned closer to the witch's chest in an effort to determine whether or not the spell actually passed through the cloak or if it stopped right at the cloak.

"Yes, yes she did," Dr. Mackle replied as he moved up to inspect the point of contact from the opposite side of the spell and reached out to draw a circle in the air a hair's breadth from Miss Potter's chest as he gave a description of the injury in question. "I recall finding an oddly shaped bruise right at the point of contact. It was a ring shaped bruise with a 'v' shaped bruise cutting through it and a small jagged cut in the center of the heavier part of the bruise at the bottom. At the time, I assumed a physical blow to the heavy ring she'd been wearing on a leather cord was the cause of both the bruise and the cut since the size and shape matched both the ring and cord."

"How much force does the Killing Curse exert when it strikes a target Mr. Lupin?"

"None, Master Hunter Netero; the spell does not target the physical body. The Killing Curse targets the victim's soul and severs the connection between the body and soul without harming the body at all."

"How is that possible? In several of the previous memories, I distinctly recall seeing the Killing Curse destroy trees, stone blocks, walls, and metal shields when the individual on the receiving end either dodged the curse or summoned something to block it."

"In the case of the spell hitting a tree; trees do not contain a soul and therefore the destructive nature of the spell is given physical form as it comes into contact with the magic inherent in all living things. The same thing almost applies to non-living shields or structures that have even a weak connection to the earth, like stones; which still contain trace amounts of magic from the process that formed them within the earth's crust. Solid shields that are conjured of metals contain enough of the castor's magic to function in the same way. Conversely, I'm sure you've noticed that the spell does not affect the clothes of a person hit with the spell and that is because there are few fabrics that contain both the magic and mass necessary to affect the spell."

"Then why didn't Miss Potter's wand and sword explode when the spell hit both weapons before striking her? Based upon your explanation, both of them should have exploded because they are made of wood and were obviously magical."

"Foci have rules all their own and there are many factors involved that dictates how each individual focus will react with hit directly with specific spells. Aside from the differences in the power ratings of each focus based upon the material used to create them, there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of protective runes that the individual creating the focus will place upon it to prevent it from blowing up on the user. The more powerful the wand and the stronger the protection placed on the wand, the harder it is to destroy that wand."

"I see. Next question; why didn't the spell kill Miss Potter? According to what I am seeing here, it is obvious that it connected with the young lady."

"I can't answer that question any more now than I could the first time Harriet survived being struck with that curse."

"Did you actually see her being struck with the Killing Curse as a baby?" Mizuken inquired from where he was standing beside the frozen Dark Lord.

"No, but there are diagnostic spells that can reliably detect exactly what spells are cast in a specific area for up to five hours after a spell has been cast; longer if the spell used was exceptionally powerful and the residue of the Killing Curse has been known to linger for days when cast by a powerful wizard. And Voldemort was an exceptionally powerful wizard. The night Harriet's parents were murdered, the aurors that investigated the scene recorded the residue from three Killing Curses."

"And do those diagnostic spells tell you whether or not the spells actually hit anyone or who they hit?"

"Yes and no… the only way to prove that a body was hit with the spell would be to determine if the spell's residue was present on the body. If there is no body present, then it is near impossible to determine whether or not someone had been struck by any of the spells fired at the scene. The medical tests run on Harriet after she was removed from the scene revealed that she'd been struck by the Killing Curse that night. Madam Pomfrey was the one that treated Harriet within two hours of the attack and I read her report three days later when I returned to England shortly after learning about the deaths of James and Lily."

"Interesting," Netero murmured to himself before he addressed the wizard once more. "Can you please continue the playback of the memory but let it play out slowly enough so that we can watch what happens in slow motion?"

"Yes."

The memory began rolling forward with the speed of a snail crossing a gravel road and Netero once again focused his attention on the green jet of spell fire as the magic in the curse splashed outwards from the point of contact with the invisible garment that Miss Potter was wearing (like a stream of water hitting a cement walkway) before the spell was reflected back at its castor. He mentally noted the way the gold aura surrounding Miss Potter shifted and collected at the point of impact just before the magic of the Killing Curse was sent back at Voldemort before he followed the return trajectory of the spell.

If he had been using Gyo while he viewed the memory, he would have also seen the silvery-black mist of death magic that clung to the Deathly Hallows wrapping around the deadly curse and preventing it from touching their master's flesh.

Netero was rather surprised to discover that even seeing Voldemort's demise a second time (in slow motion) didn't allow him to determine just how the dark wizard had actually died. Miss Potter's swords had both penetrated the man's body to a lethal degree in the exact same instant that the Dark Lord's spell had washed over the man. It could almost be said that the man had killed himself in the same instant that Miss Potter had struck the killing blow.

"I can see now why Miss Potter couldn't tell me exactly how he died," Netero mused as he watched the dead wizard's weight slowly drag the witch to her knees before she shoved it away and caught herself with her hands. "I've seen what I wanted to see; you can speed the memory back up."

The memory ended just a few minutes later as the entire memory was suffused with phoenix flames and the four men were once again thrown out of the magical device. The first thing Netero did when he shook off the disorientation of being thrown out of the pensieve was to check on his old friend's great-granddaughter. He found her curled up on her fiancé's lap on the couch sound asleep while the young man in question ran his fingers through her hair and watched her sleep. There was no doubt in Netero's mind that the boy loved Miss Potter deeply; he could see it clear as day in the tender expression on his face.

"Did you wish to see my memory of the final battle before or after you view Harriet's memory of her meetings with the Interim Minister of Magic and the Queen?"

"Before, please, Mr. Lupin. That will make it easier to follow along with the debriefing Miss Potter gave to her majesty."

"Alright, give me a moment to secure the memory of Harriet's fight against Voldemort and I will place a copy of mine into the pensieve."

Less than seven minutes later, the four of them were once again standing on the grounds of Hogwarts as the battle between Voldemort's forces and the Order of the Phoenix unfolded around them. Miss Potter's one on one battle against Voldemort was taking place off to one side in the distance with only small glimpses of the battle visible due to the high concentration of spell fire saturating the battlefield. Halfway through the battle, another group of witches and wizards entered the fray to join the Order of the Phoenix members in taking down the Death Eaters.

Off in the background, the school's faculty (bar the trio that had rushed out at the beginning of the battle) and a few of the older students were defending the castle from those Death Eaters looking to escape the fight. Netero meandered through the multitude of fights that were taking place between scattered groups and individuals and noticed that those wearing the red cloaks of the Order consistently fought in pairs while the masked Death Eaters either ganged up on a single pair or fought alone. The way each pair of red coated fighters worked in concert with one another meant that they were never left vulnerable no matter how many opponents each pair faced.

The level of coordination between partners also spoke of familiarity that only comes from fighting side by side with the same individual in other battles. The level of trust shown between each set of partners and even between multiple groups of the Order members was rather amazing to behold and it brought back memories of the battles Netero had faced with Greg at his side. Intuition told him that the Order's battle strategy had Miss Potter's fingerprints all over it; not really surprising considering when he recalled the level of cooperation that she'd given her companions during last year's Hunter Exam.

He also didn't miss the fact that the red cloaks the members of the Order wore deflected far more spells than the clothes the school staff and Ministry personnel wore. He had studied one of those red cloaks (specifically the one that Miss Potter had been wearing when she'd been found in the Infirmary at Headquarters) and knew they were extremely durable and could even deflect glancing blows from a sword. They were also far sturdier than the black cloak that had prevented Killua Zoldyck from ripping out Miss Potter's heart when she had stopped the boy's attack.

_So, not only did she teach them better fighting tactics, she saw to it they were equipped with adequate protective gear to give them the edge they would need to survive each battle they entered. A true leader indeed,_ Netero mused as he watched the fighting start to die down as the Death Eaters were put down and put down hard with little to no hesitation from the Order members.

Not all of them killed their opponents but they also didn't pull their punches (so to speak) or stop to torture or taunt their enemies; they simply ended the threat they represented in a methodical fashion that saw the battle ending fairly quickly.

Towards the end of the battle, Mr. Lupin's memory shifted focus as the wizard chased after a rat that soon vanished into the forest and the aged Hunter quickly realized that the rat must be a wizard in disguise and based on the way Mr. Lupin had cursed when the rat disappeared, the rat was obviously one of the Death Eaters. Once he realized that, it didn't take him long to figure out that the rat was the man that had framed Miss Potter's godfather and the true traitor that had betrayed her parents to the Dark Lord; Peter Pettigrew.

He made a mental note to get a clear photo of the wizard in both human and rat form and an in depth list of his skills from Mr. Lupin so he could have the Association keep a look out for the man before he returned his attention to the rest of the memory as the focus turned to the end of Miss Potter's battle. Instead of trying to catch a glimpse of the fight he'd already seen up close, Netero focused on the faces of those watching the fight and the actions of those that continued to work in the background. It didn't escape his attention that the Ministry employees that showed up after the battle's start were mostly the ones that were gawking while the Order members dealt with the aftermath of their fight.

It wasn't that the Order of the Phoenix ignored the end of Miss Potter's battle; it was more that they didn't let the on-going fight take their attention off of their surroundings and therefore risk being caught off guard. They kept close tabs on their leader's struggle but didn't give their foes the chance to cut them down in a moment of inattention; they behaved like trained professionals while most of the trained professionals acted like untrained civilians. It was no wonder the magicals had been on the verge of losing the war prior to Miss Potter's involvement if those charged with protecting the public were unable to actually protect the public they were supposed to be protecting.

Netero was drawn out of his cynical analysis of the magical society as a whole when the entire crowd let loose a cheer as Miss Potter's battle finally came to an end. Even the Order members celebrated Voldemort's death right up until Miss Potter vanished without warning. Several individuals (all of them wearing red cloaks) cursed and yelled for Miss Potter as they dashed forward to find out what happened. A trio of red heads had just begun organizing a search for the missing witch when Mr. Lupin's memory ended and the group was tossed back into the drawing room yet again.

"I knew the little firecracker was a natural born leader but I hadn't pegged her as a natural at teaching as well," Mizuken praised before anyone else could comment on the battle. "The differences between the four groups that were fighting could be spotted a mile away and the paired fighting style and battle tactics of the redcoats had the firecracker's name all over them."

"Harriet brought out the best in all of us and reminded us repeatedly that our biggest strength was each other," Mr. Lupin agreed warmly as he glanced towards the witch in question where she was still sleeping on her fiancé's lap. "While she desperately wished to end the threat that Voldemort and his Death Eaters represented, her biggest concern was making certain that those on her side would survive each encounter she instigated. As much as she frustrated me each time she took needless risks, I know that without her leading us, we would not have won without having lost far too many good men and women."

"She reminds me of her great-grandfather. There were times when it seemed like old Firebrand inspired those around him just by breathing," Netero stated as he stroked his beard and smiled in remembrance. "Of course, he also had a stubborn streak a mile wide and a temper that would put an erupting volcano to shame if you managed to set him off."

"Must run in the family, Harriet's mother was the same way; always smiling and drawing people to her right up until James would do something stupid and it was like watching an avalanche mow down and bury an entire forest without slowing down. It was never pleasant being on the wrong side of her wand when Lily was in a real snit. I swear she tweaked her Stinging Hexes to make them more painful and purposefully aimed for the more sensitive places in order to cause optimum pain. Made the lessons she dished out hard to forget."

"There's no doubt that Azalea is just as sadistic," Mr. Kurta interjected with a snort. "Getting her mad is always a risky business because she won't hesitate to let you know you pissed her off but heaven help you if you drive her to the point where you earn a dose of retribution in response to something you've done. She likes to get creative… Tickling Charms may sound harmless enough but they can be down right nasty when you're hit with one when you have a full bladder right before she hits you with a Stinging Hex to the groin just to douse you with warm water two seconds later. It's pain and utter humiliation all rolled into one."

"Speaking from experience?" Mizuken asked with a laugh.

"Yes… from both points of view; so I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end as well as what it looks like to see it happen to another."

"What did you do to earn a right hexing?" Mr. Lupin inquired curiously.

"Technically nothing," Mr. Kurta quietly confessed as all traces of amusement disappeared from the teen. "That was the same treatment she gave to everyone whenever she was startled after Hisoka attacked her. She'd not yet regained control of her magic after what had happened during the Fourth Phase and so her spells were seriously overpowered at the time and the response was more of an instinctive reaction when she felt threatened rather than a planned retaliation but that doesn't change the fact that it was an effective defense."

"It only took being on the receiving end of that particular chain of spells once for a person to learn real fast not to startle the young lady," Netero added with a grimace.

"In most cases but I know for a fact that there were a couple of people that never learned their lesson," Mr. Kurta snorted as he shot the doctor a quick look.

"I am a doctor. The Association pays me to fix broken bodies and keep them alive; they have other people on the payroll to fix their broken minds," Dr. Mackle imperiously retorted in response to Mr. Kurta's reference to the fact that he'd been hit with that particular combination of spells more than any other adult with the exception of the Third Phase Examiner (Lippo) during the week following Hisoka's attack.

"True… but in Lippo's case, I think Azalea was just being vindictive because she never forgave him for the way he manipulated her into playing by his rules during the Hunter's Exam," Mr. Kurta clarified with a small smirk.

"As much as I would love to continue the current discussion, I still need to view Miss Potter's next memory," Netero pointed out before anyone else could comment on the grudge that the petite witch held against one of her fellow Hunters.

The next several hours were spent watching two politically powerful governmental figures expertly extract a wealth of information about the wizarding world from the unprepared witch. Miss Potter's age and inexperience were painfully apparent as she quickly found herself backed into a corner by the Queen with the help of the Prime Minister. Yet while it was perfectly clear that the young witch had no control at all over that meeting and that she had only made a token effort to limit just how much information she gave the two non-magicals, she never actually broke under the pressure that the two adults had been placing on her.

_With proper guidance and training, Miss Potter could become a force to be reckoned with outside of a battlefield,_ Netero silently noted as the young woman's audience with the Queen ended and she was escorted back to the Prime Minister's office.

The disastrous end of the lunch meeting with the Interim Minister of Magic left Netero with mixed feelings. He could easily understand Minister Shacklebolt's anger and fear upon learning how much information Miss Potter had passed to the Queen. At the same time, he knew that if the man's predecessors had done their jobs properly, then there never would have been an issue since the Queen would have already been aware of what had been happening on the magical side. He could also clearly see the mistake the man had made in thinking that Miss Potter, as a witch, would automatically put the wizarding world's well being first simply because she was a witch.

When Netero had first met Harriet Potter, she'd been a witch determined to become a Hunter because she needed the training that she wasn't receiving from the wizarding world. There had been no question at the time that she was a witch and that she used her magic to define herself. Even after she had passed the Hunter's Exam and earned her Hunter's License, she had still considered herself a witch first and foremost.

That was no longer the case. Netero knew that sometime between the day Miss Potter had left the Association's Hotel in the company of Mr. Kurta and the day Dumbledore died that she'd stopped thinking of herself as a witch. Oh, she didn't renounce her magic completely (it was nigh on impossible for a magical to do so) but she also no longer defined herself as a witch above all else. Mizuken had informed him of the change in her priorities the moment the other Hunter had taken note of it.

Netero had also noticed the difference in the report that Miss Potter sent him shortly after Dumbledore's death; she'd truly become one of his Hunters at that point. He'd known that she finally saw herself as a Hunter after reading through that report. The memory he'd just watched only cemented that fact.

"If ever there was a doubt that Harriet was her mother's daughter, her parting shot at the end of that memory would have erased it completely," Mr. Lupin deadpanned as he stared down at the pensieve. "Lily always had to have the last word in any argument and the angrier she was, the sharper her tongue would grow and the deeper her final words would cut. Kingsley was a fool to even think about taking Harriet to task for correcting the dereliction of duty that the previous administrations had propagated for the past several decades."

"Miss Potter's current hormonal imbalance undoubtedly contributed to the situation," Dr. Mackle commented absently as he made a few notations on the notepad he was holding.

"You're lucky my kitten is sleeping right now or she'd hex but good for voicing that opinion," Mr. Kurta snorted with more than a little amusement.

"Doesn't make it any less true," Mizuken quipped with a small smirk.

"Don't make me show Chairman Netero the memory of you crying out in fright like a little girl when I introduced you to Snowbell," Miss Potter sleepily threatened in irritation as she lifted her sleep tousled head up off of Mr. Kurta's lap.

"Oh? And just who or what is Snowbell?" Netero inquired curiously as he noted the slight blush creeping up the back of Mizuken's neck.

"An annoying furball," Mizuken and Mr. Lupin both muttered in unison before they glanced at one another in surprise.

"Did she get you with that trick too?" Mizuken inquired as he arched an eyebrow at Mr. Lupin.

"Let me guess, she started out as a cute and harmless little half grown house-cat before she suddenly morphed into a half grown tiger practically on top of you without any warning?" Mr. Lupin dryly asked in return.

"Yep; the little firecracker was perched on my knee at the time. Personally, it was far more amusing to watch her torment blondie that first time; she pounced on him, climbed up his back and leg a couple of times, and used him as a scratching post. Of course, he also had her running in circles around him chasing after a bit of grass for several minutes before she wised up."

"That must have been shortly after she first learned the transformation; when her feline instincts would have been at their strongest due to how new her form was at the time," Mr. Lupin mused with a grin as he turned his gaze to a now blushing Miss Potter. "I saw her father and godfather lose control of themselves a few times in the beginning. Padfoot chased after thrown sticks; James must have had him play fetch with him for ten minutes straight before Sirius realized what was going on. Prongs, on the other hand, bolted the moment his eyes first landed on us and we had to chase him for well over an hour through the forest before we finally caught up to him and he snapped out of it."

"Sirius once told me that he caught him stripping bark from the trees and eating it a couple of times," Miss Potter added with a small smile as she completely forgot all about her earlier irritation with Dr. Mackle.

"I take it that you have acquired the ability to transform yourself into two different felines?" Netero fished in order to confirm what was being implied as he recalled what he knew of shapeshifters from Greg's frequent ramblings.

"I thought you were going to inform Chairman Netero of your ability at the first opportunity, firecracker?" Mizuken demanded with a slight frown right on the heel's of Netero's question.

"I intended to but I kinda forgot once I returned to England," Miss Potter sheepishly responded to her former trainer before she gave Netero her attention and answered his question. "Yes, I can transform into two different animagus forms; my first form is a calico cat and my second is a white tiger. I meant to tell you in that first report I sent you once I got back but I completely forgot because I was swept up in the war and stuff practically the moment I arrived. At the time, I was also trying to keep my dual transformations a secret as well since I didn't want the Death Eaters to find out."

"No harm done, child; I hardly require all of my Hunters to inform me of every single little ability that they pick up throughout their career. Could you show me your forms?"

"I guess I can," Miss Potter agreed as she pushed herself upright.

"Are you certain that is a good idea in your condition?" Mr. Kurta asked in concern.

"I'll be fine, Kura; I asked Madam Pomfrey about it right after she cast the spell to give the babies more room and she said it wouldn't affect the spell and she'd told me back in September that transforming wouldn't be a problem so long as my form could carry multiple fetuses and both of them can."

"Yes, but do you really think you should at this point considering how fragile your health is right now? And what about the restrictions that the goblin healer put you on for the duration of your pregnancy?"

"Transforming won't put any stress on me or the babies; my magic shields me during the process and because it is an internal change, it is less stressful than casting spells. I will also use far less than twenty-five percent of my reserves due to how much time I spent mastering both transformations. So, no, I won't be going against the restrictions that Healer Beestung placed on me. Besides, transforming into Pixie would allow you to remove me from dangerous situations faster and easier than you trying to carry me in my natural form."

As soon as she finished speaking, the young lady began to shrink in on herself as her clothes seemingly folded into her body as white, rusty red, and pitch black fur wrapped around her body. A heartbeat later, a petite calico cat sat in her place on the couch; a ruby earring dangling from the base of her left ear and a glint of gold reflecting from her left paw. Netero moved forward to crouch directly in front of his transformed Hunter so he could get a better look at her; absently noting that her eyes were mostly gold with flecks of emerald green in them.

He was just reaching out to scratch her chin when her form suddenly blurred and swelled out into the form of a small tiger and he barely stopped himself from yanking his hand away at suddenly finding himself face to face with the rather dainty wild cat. Netero got the sneaking suspicion that the young lady turned tiger in front of him knew about the brief moment of shock he'd felt upon having her switch forms in his face; the laughter dancing in her eyes said as much.

"Fascinating," Netero murmured as his hand made contact with her now larger chin. "Is there any particular reason why only one earring carried over to both of your forms and why the ring on your left hand is still visible when none of your other jewelry is present?"

"Some magical jewelry will resist all efforts to change them; especially if they are blood linked to the wearer or linked directly to a person's magic," Mr. Lupin explained in Miss Potter's place since the tiger was too busy purring up a storm as Netero scratched her chin to change back and reply herself.

"Both the ring and earring you see are actually linked to me," Mr. Kurta added as he reached out to bury his fingers in the tiger's ruff. "The rings that Azalea and I wear were created from my Nen and nothing short of death or one of us breaking our promises to each other will allow the rings to be removed from our hands. The matching earrings we wear were then spelled by Azalea and bonded to us through our blood so we would always have a link to one another while we were separated and it would take someone cutting our ears off to remove them."

"Nen…? What exactly is Nen?" Mr. Lupin asked curiously as he sidled up beside the still transformed witch so he could inspect the ring she wore.

"Nen is what we call a person's life energy or aura," Netero answered as he pooled his Nen in his eyes so that he could use Gyo to inspect the ring on Miss Potter's left paw.

The moment he looked at the conjured jewelry, he saw a length of fine gold chain linking the ring on her finger to the ring on Mr. Kurta's finger. He then noted the second, smaller chain that ran from the ring to Miss Potter's heart. Another brief glance in Mr. Kurta's direction revealed a heavier chain running from his ring to his heart. Netero suspected that the young man had tied his life to the rings but before he could give the matter too much though, he was distracted by Mr. Lupin's next question.

"You made a ring out of your aura…? But how is that possible? You don't have a drop of magic running through your blood; I know you don't because Moody checked you the moment you weren't looking to confirm whether or not you were telling us the truth about not being a wizard."

"Don't be an idiot, a wizard's magic is made up of their life energy and all living things have a life energy; that's what makes them living things instead of dead things," Mizuken corrected in an annoyed tone. "The only difference between wizards and non-wizards is the fact that a wizard's life force, what they call their magic, is actually a melding of all six aspects of an aura while non-wizards are only born with one aspect. And any one can be taught how to harness their aura regardless of whether they are 'magical' or not."

"That's…" Mr. Lupin began only to trail off as he frowned down at the floor in thought.

"Shocking," Netero finished for him with a smile; he knew full well how earth shattering it was for a wizard to learn that even non-magicals could be taught to harness their aura. Greg had been gob smacked when he first learned that little tidbit back when the two of them had first earner their Hunter's Licenses together. "I'm certain that Miss Potter would be more than happy to explain the intricacies of Nen to you if you wish to learn more in the future. Right now though, there are more important things that must be discussed; so, if you will change yourself back to we can begin, Miss Potter?"

The tiger's purring abruptly cut off as the witch in question let out a small huff before she blurred outwards and returned to her human form. Their discussion would take up the rest of the afternoon and touch on several topics including the precarious state of the wizarding world, the current relationship between the British Ministry of Magic and Britain's non-magical government, and what needed to be done to fix those problems the wizarding world was currently facing or could potentially face in the near future if things didn't change.

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**AN: **_I know I wanted to comment on this chapter but for the life of me, I can't remember exactly what it was that I wanted to say. Mostly because I'm still half asleep, hungry, and trying to ignore a headache. In any case, this chapter will be the last chapter I post for a while as I need to iron out a few wrinkles in the rest of what I have written and there's also the fact that I only have one or two full chapters written out. So, it may be a little while before I update again.  
_

_In the mean time, I will leave everyone with huge gift baskets of tasty treats in thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, alerts, and community adds. As well as for sticking with this story despite the periodical hiatus of updates. =) ~ Jenn_


	48. The x Deathly x Hallows

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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Chapter Forty-Eight: The x Deathly x Hallows

"There is one thing about your fight with Voldemort that still confuses me, Miss Potter," Chairman Netero stated as he tugged on the gray tip of his beard. "Why was his Killing Curse rebounded when it struck you?"

Azalea froze and found it rather difficult to breathe as the Chairman's question abruptly reminded her that she now held all three Deathly Hallows and that she'd been wearing or using all three at the time of her fight with Voldemort. The memory of the frigid magic of death sliding over her skin each time she had all three items on her person had the blood draining from her face as she dropped her hands to her stomach as her thoughts immediately flew to the babies.

Could the death magic of the three ancient artifacts have harmed her babies?

Sure, all three healers had assured her that her babies were healthy but she well recalled what Madam Pomfrey had told her about dark magic affecting the growing babes back when she first confirmed Azalea's pregnancy. Azalea hadn't really given any thought to how the cold touch of death would have affected the babies each time the frozen tendrils of death's magic had wrapped itself around her. That wasn't even touching on what the Killing Curse might have done to the twins when Voldemort's curse struck her at the end of the battle.

"Azalea, what's wrong?" Kurapika asked in concern as he cupped the terrified witch's face with one hand in order to get her to look at him.

Tears welled up in Azalea's eyes in response to the question as her heart twisted in pain over the thought of how Kurapika would take the knowledge that she might have caused harm to their children in her ignorance. Azalea then closed her eyes in an attempt to prevent her tears from falling and started to shake her head only to freeze when her fiancé's hand felt as if it had been turned to stone against her face. Opening her eyes and jerking her face back, Azalea gasped in horror as her eyes landed on a petrified and colorless Kurapika; it literally looked like all of the life had been drained from him.

She opened her mouth to demand an answer from the others in the room, only for a scream to escape instead when she finally noticed that the other four men in the room had also been frozen. Even the room itself looked like it had had all the color sucked out of it as everything had faded into lifeless shades of gray. What truly terrified her though was the fact that Fawkes was in the same state; she had not thought it possible for anything to freeze the living magic of a phoenix without forcing the mythical bird into a rebirth cycle.

"_**Calm yourself, child; your companions are unharmed**_," a raspy voice filled with unimaginable power insidiously filled the room. "_**I merely froze the lives inside of this house in time so that my presence will not harm them.**_"

Swallowing thickly, Azalea turned her head towards where she believed the voice was coming from in time to see the shadows in the far corner of the room coalesce into a cloak covered figure that loomed over Azalea even from across the room. Ice cold fear formed a knot inside of Azalea's stomach the moment she saw the black bladed scythe in the being's skeletal hand.

"Who… _what_ are you?" Azalea demanded in a show of false bravado before the intimidating being.

"_**Come now, child; you already know who I am for your soul and mine are old friends.**_"

"You are Death," Azalea replied in a breathless whisper that echoed far too loudly in her ears.

"_**In the flesh and at your service, my lady**_," Death rasped as he bowed to Azalea with a flourish that some how seemed both mocking and sincere all at the same time.

"Why are you here?"

"_**Your soul called me here the moment you began to fear yourself.**_"

"What do you mean?"

"_**The moment you claimed all three pieces of the Deathly Hallows, you stepped outside of time itself as you became part of the very cycle that is life and death.**_"

"I don't understand… what does that mean?"

"_**It means that your soul is no longer bound to the Cycle of Life and Death by your mortality.**_"

"Are you implying that I can not die?"

"_**No, there is no such thing as immortality. Death, no matter what form it takes, is inevitable for all things; including myself for I am naught but one small aspect of the universe.**_"

"Then what did you mean when you said I was no longer bound to the Cycle of Life and Death?" Azalea inquired in a bewildered tone as she tried to understand.

"_**While all things made of flesh, bone, and blood are doomed to crumble to dust, the soul is eternal. However, once the soul of a living creature flees from its home in death, the memories of the soul's life are wiped clean and that too is a form of death. That is what it means to be bound to the Cycle of Life and Death.**_"

"If the memories of a soul are stripped from them upon death, then how is it that I can speak to the spirits of the dead through the Resurrection Stone? And what about ghosts? How is it possible for ghosts to exist?"

"_**The Stone does not truly bring the departed souls back to the world and ghosts are not actual souls that are trapped on this plane. When a living being dies, its last breath expels the memories of its lifetime and those memories become part of the magic that fills this world. It is those memories that the Stone latches onto and pulls back into the form of the spirit that you wish to speak with. As for the existence of ghosts, if the being's fear of death is strong enough, then their memories will bind themselves together for all eternity instead of scattering across the universe.**_"

"The how was it possible for the memories of my parents, great grandfather, and godfather to be aware of things that happened after they died when I called them through the stone?"

"_**Those memories that become scattered upon the death of their host mingle with the memories of every living thing that has ever died bar those memories that were bound in the likeness of their former lives through fear. When you use the Stone to call upon the 'spirit' of one who has passed, the magic in the Stone will pass through your soul through the bond the Stone has formed with your magic before it gathers the scattered memories of the one you are calling and temporarily binds them into their original form.**_"

"_**Your magic and memories will therefore leave an impression on the 'spirit' you have called; allowing the magic in the Stone to gift the 'spirit' with knowledge it did not have upon its death**_," Death explained as casually as one might comment on the weather.

"Does that mean that what I learn from the spirits of those I call on is false?"

"_**No, any knowledge gleaned from the memories of the dead are the unembellished truth for there can be no deceit in death. Nor can your magic deceive you for it is a part of what makes you, you.**_"

"What about when I died last year? Why didn't Sirius know what was happening when he greeted in me the weird replica of the Death Room from the Department of Mysteries?"

"_**You had not called upon the memories of his soul through the Resurrection Stone at the time. In fact, you did not truly 'die' at that time because your soul had been bound to your body through Fate's prophecy and your experiences at the time were the product of your magic and your own memories of the man you called godfather.**_"

"Okay," Azalea murmured as he tried to absorb everything she'd just learned. "Okay. I'm not sure I understand yet but I can figure it out later. In the mean time, can you finish explaining what it means for me to be unbound from the Cycle of Life and Death now? And while you're at it, maybe you could explain to me just what the Deathly Hallows are and why 'claiming' them did whatever it was they did."

"_**The moment the magic that lives in the Hallows bound themselves to your soul, they broke the bindings that bound your soul within the Cycle of Life and Death. What that means, is that the moment your body dies and your soul is set free, instead of your memories being scattered throughout the world's magic or bound into a ghost by fear, they will forever be tied to your soul. So, instead of starting over with a new life each time you die, your soul will carry with it the memories of all your lifetimes from this point forward.**_"

"And the Hallows?"

"_**They are merely three aspects of the universe that were tied into physical form through magic. The Elder Wand represents Balance for it is a tool that can heal or harm. The Resurrection Stone represents Time for it is tied to the world's magic and therefore to the histories of all lives that have passed on and those that are yet to come. And the Invisibility Cloak represents Luck for it allows one to hide from both those who seek to harm the wearer and those the wearer seeks to harm. **_"

"_**Altogether, the Hallows are a physical manifestation of the Cycle of Life and Death. Their combined magic shields their wielder from the moment their magic forms a bond with the wielder's magic, or as some call it, their life force.**_"

"Is that why I can feel the cold magic of death wrapping around me like a blanket each time I hold all three Hallows at the same time? Will that magic hurt my babies?"

"_**Foolish child; there is no such thing as death magic, just as there is no such thing as life magic. Magic is nothing more and nothing less than the energy that breaths life into all living things. And the magic in the Hallows could no more harm your unborn children than it could harm you because the magic in the Deathly Hallows is now tied to your magic and your magic will never harm that which is born from your loins.**_"

"But then why is the magic of the Hallows so cold? And why are they called the _Deathly_ Hallows if they have nothing to do with death?"

"_**The coldness you feel when you hold the Hallows near to you is merely your magic brushing up against the aspects of the universe that the Hallows are tied to. Your life, your soul, burns so brightly that it makes the wild magic that flows throughout the world feel cold by comparison. You also have no need to hold the Hallows to feel the connection you now have to the universe; though holding them makes it far easier for you to do so.**_"

"_**As for the name 'Deathly Hallows', you would do well to remember that time twists history until fact becomes legend and legend becomes myth until that knowledge is lost before it is found again at which time myth once again becomes fact. It was a human that named the Hallows and even that name has become warped throughout time. As for why the Hallows are so closely associated with death, it is because of how closely tied they are to the Cycle of Life and Death on top of the fact that I had been the one charged to bring them into being during one of my earlier lives.**_"

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Or it might, once I've had time to think about it. Wait, you said 'one' of your earlier lives; does that mean that you remember all of your past lives?"

"_**Yes, for like you, I am part of the Cycle of Life and Death for I am Death.**_"

"If you are Death, then what am I?"

"_**You are Life's Champion and Magic's Protector.**_"

"What happens if someone takes one of the Hallows from me? If another win's the allegiance of the Elder Wand?"

"_**The magic of the Hallows does not work that way; the passing of each Hallow from one person to the next was merely the magic of the Hallows seeking the Champion that was destined to unite them; you. They will forever be tied to your soul even long after their physical forms have been passed onto another and they will inevitably return to your hand in each new life you live when you have the greatest need for them and their magic once more. As such, the Elder Wand would be nothing but another wand in the hand of another no matter how they ended up with the wand.**_"

Azalea slumped back against couch and scrubbed at her face for a moment as she tried to remain calm in the face of the knowledge that she had been destined to master the Deathly Hallows since before she was born. Much like she'd been prophesied to defeat the Dark Lord. A dark laugh bubbled up in her chest as she wondered whether it was her destiny as the wielder of the Hallows that had caused her to be the subject of a prophecy or if it was being the subject of a prophecy that had marked her to be the wielder of the Hallows.

"Anything else I should know about the Hallows?"

"_**Yes, there are limits to what you are allowed to reveal about the nature of the Deathly Hallows. While the existence of the Hallows is well documented, the fact that they are aspects of the universe is not and as such, you may not reveal that knowledge to anyone. Nor are you allowed to speak of your new existence as part of the Cycle of Life and Death to those who are still bound by the Cycle. You may, however, reveal your ownership of all three Deathly Hallows and speak of my presence (for my existence is well documented) to those whom you trust.**_"

"What about the part where the owner of the Hallows is supposed to become the Master of Death? Is there any truth in that or is that another part of the tale that became twisted by time?"

"_**I have no master and you hold no power over me.**_"

"That's a good thing; I don't want that kind of power. I just wanted to know what to tell those that ask me about that aspect of the legend, because those I tell will ask the moment I open my mouth and assign the title of Deathly Hallows to the Wand, Stone, and Cloak. I also can't just tell them that the whole Master of Death thing is a myth if I can't explain the true purpose of the Deathly Hallows."

"_**You may tell them that mastering the Deathly Hallows allows you to be the master of your own death; granting you the ability to deflect harmful magic away from your person; which is true as the Hallows shield your soul from an untimely death. That is especially true so long as you carry the seeds of life within your womb for the protective instincts of a mother are intertwined with your magic and through your magic's connection to the Hallows with the magic of the Hallows.**_"

"What do you mean?"

"_**It was your desperate need to protect the lives that you carry inside of you that gave the Hallows the power to deflect the curse that would have taken your life and your children's lives with you if the magic in the Death Curse had touched your magic**_," Death answered patiently. "_**Did you have any other questions for me, child?**_"

"Will you be popping up like this all the time now or was this just a one time deal?"

"_**You will only see me when you have need of me or when I have need of you in your capacity as Life's Champion and Magic's Protector.**_"

"Joy," Azalea snorted sarcastically. "Do I need to worry about any other aspects of the universe or their avatars popping up unannounced?"

"_**Magic may seek you out when her existence is threatened but otherwise she will be content to let you live your life undisturbed because that is the nature of Magic. The Phoenix, the Avatar of Hope and Rebirth, may also choose to visit you since you are bound to one of his children but he is usually content to allow his children to act in his stead since they were scattered to the far corners of the universe not long after their birth.**_"

Azalea let out a soft groan in response to that reply; she was not looking forward to dealing with three powerful and god-like beings. She then cast a side glance to her still frozen lover as she tried to predict how he was going to react to the latest twist in the drama that was her life. Her heart gave a painful lurch when she realized that they would be separated in death because Kurapika's soul would forever be wiped clean of its memories at the end of his lifetime while she would be both blessed and cursed to forever remember both having and losing him.

"_**If there is nothing else you need from me, child, then I will bid you farewell for the time being.**_"

Azalea jerkily nodded in response to his words and the being known as Death faded back into the shadows from which he formed even as the world around her burst back into life and color. The young witch sucked in a sharp breath as she recognized the feeling from when Kurapika had drawn her out of the state of numbness she'd been locked in after her fight with Voldemort. She swallowed sharply when she realized that the numbness must have had something to do with the Hallows or with Death itself (himself?) based upon that similarity.

"Azalea…?" Kurapika murmured in concern and confusion as he allowed his hand to drop the moment he realized that Azalea was no longer within reach but couldn't recall her actually moving away from him. Azalea let out a small whimper before she buried her face against his chest; her entire body trembling as she struggled to deal with the shock she'd just been given. "Kitten…? What's wrong? And why are you half frozen all of a sudden?"

"Sorry, I just learned something rather unsettling," Azalea murmured in reply before she took several deep breaths to calm her swirling emotions and bring order to her scattered thoughts. Once she was in control of herself once more, she sat up addressed the chairman. "I'm sorry, Chairman Netero; your question triggered a memory that rather unsettled me and that led to a headache inducing conversation I'm pretty sure I could have done without."

"Am I the only one that feels a little lost?" Remus inquired as his brow crinkled in confusion while he tried not to look at Azalea as if she'd grown a second head.

"Just a moment," Azalea murmured before she called on Tanker and asked the elf to fetch her invisibility cloak, her bag, and the book of fairy tales by Beedle the Bard. Once she had her cloak, her bag, and book in hand, she glanced at Remus and gestured to the room at large as she asked, "Could you please toss up the usual privacy wards, Moony?"

"What…? Why now?"

"Please, Moony? It's important."

Remus grumbled a bit about the request but complied without any hesitation while Azalea dug the Elder Wand out of her bag before she tucked it into her left sleeve. Once the room was secure marshaled her inner Gryffindor and began what would be one of the most difficult conversations she'd had to date.

"In order to answer your question about the way Riddle's Killing Curse rebounded instead of actually hitting me, there are a couple of things I need to explain first," Azalea began as she opened Beedle's book and flipped through it until she came to the Tale of the Three Brothers. She then passed the book to Chairman Netero as she continued, "First, the Tale of the Three Brothers is based on a true story."

"Are you implying that the Deathly Hallows actually exist, Harriet?" Remus asked with a trace of skepticism.

"I'm not implying anything, Remus; I know for a fact that they do exist. You've even used one without knowing it."

"What are you talking…? James's invisibility cloak; you honestly believe that James's invisibility cloak is one of the three Hallows? I think that's something we would have noticed when we were sneaking about Hogwarts beneath that old rag."

"Moony, stop and think about what you know about invisibility cloaks. How long do they usually last before the magic in them begins to unravel?"

"Between ten and twenty years depending on how their made and the materials used, why?"

"Now, can you tell me how long you've known this exact cloak to have been in my father's family?" Azalea prompted as she held up the cloak in question while she ignored the chill radiating from all three of the Deathly Hallows due to their proximity to each other. "It's been around for at least seventeen years since dad still had it when I was born. Then you have to add at least another twenty years to account for the years in between dad's birth and the day I was born. And after that you have to account for Grandfather Potter's long life; he died when he was what, seventy? Eighty?"

"They could have just renewed the enchantments…" Remus tried to rationalize.

"But you know for a fact that they didn't because they have never faded; Padfoot used to tell me that my dad and grandfather used to tell stories about how the cloak had been in their family for _centuries_, Moony. And repeatedly renewing the enchantments on your average run of the mill invisibility cloak would have eventually unraveled the fabric of the cloak by the end of the first century because threads can only retain so much magic before the magic dissolves them."

"Okay, even if we say that the cloak is the Cloak, how do you account for the Wand or the Stone?"

"During the Death Eater assault on the castle that Malfoy led back at the end of what would have been my sixth year, I disarmed Malfoy mere seconds after he'd killed Professor Dumbledore," Azalea explained as she withdrew the Elder Wand from beneath her sleeve where she had placed it earlier. "Malfoy had, shortly before I made it up to the tower, in turn disarmed Professor Dumbledore and I took both wands when I disarmed Malfoy."

"You've been using Albus's wand all of this time? I thought it just looked similar…"

"Yes, this was formerly Professor Dumbledore's wand and I was the one that stained it red and gold in order to hide the fact that I was the one using his former wand after a fake had been entombed with him when no one could find his wand in time for his funeral. Professor Dumbledore in turn took this wand from…"

"Gellert Grindelwald; that was the wand that killed your great-grandfather, Miss Potter," Chairman Netero interjected as he passed the book of wizarding fairy tales to Mizuken.

"No, that would be like blaming the gun for shooting an innocent when it was the hand behind the gun that pulled the trigger," Azalea countered with a small shake of her head. "The wand was merely the tool that was used to kill Papa Greg; Grindelwald was the one that killed him. Professor Dumbledore won the wand from Grindelwald when he faced the dark wizard in nineteen-forty-five two years after Papa Greg was killed. Grindelwald in turn had stolen the wand from a Wandmaker by the name of Gregorovitch."

"How did you learn so much about the history of that wand?" Mizuken asked curiously as he absently handed the book over to Dr. Mackle after barely skimming through the text.

"Ollivander recognized the wand when I spoke to him back in September. He was the one that informed me that the Hallows actually existed and that Professor Dumbledore's old wand was in fact the Elder Wand from the story."

"Is the origins of that particular wand the reason why you wouldn't let me take the wand from you after you tried to hex Chairman Netero when he walked in on us last week?" Kurapika inquired curiously as he leaned closer to inspect the wand.

"Yes, the Wand of Destiny was known as a rather fickle wand and it changed masters as easily as one changes clothes right up until I took it from Draco Malfoy; though the most common way for it to change hands was through trickery and assassination."

"That's still only two out of three of the Deathly Hallows," Remus pointed out as he glanced between both the cloak and the wand with a slight frown pulling the corners of his mouth down.

In response to Moony's remark, Azalea tugged on the leather cord that held the Resurrection Stone and pulled the ring free from beneath her clothes. She then lifted the ring so that the black stone etched with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows was clearly visible to the rest of the room.

"Wasn't the stone set in the ring cracked when you first found that ring amongst the things Dumbledore left to you," Kurapika wondered as he eyed the Stone with a confused frown.

"The magic in the Hallows healed the crack in the Resurrection Stone the first time I held all three Hallows in my hands back in September right after I'd learned the truth about the origin of Professor Dumbledore's old wand. That was also the first… well, only time that I've ever used to the Stone to call on the spirits of the dead. I spoke to mum, dad, Sirius, and Papa Greg that day. I can pull out a copy of that memory for you to view, if necessary; or I could use the Stone to call on a spirit right now to prove that it is real."

"She speaks the truth," Mizuken confirmed before anyone else could speak up. "I sensed no lies in her words."

Chairman Netero hummed thoughtfully before he asked, "Am I to understand that the three powerful artifacts you now hold ownership of played a significant part in your survival during your final fight against Voldemort?"

"Yes."

"Does that mean that the belief that the one who reunites all three Deathly Hallows becomes the Master of Death is also true?" Remus queried as his earlier frown became more pronounced.

"Yes and no, there is no such thing as a Master of Death; the actual title for the person who gathers the Deathly Hallows is supposed to be something along the lines of Master of their own Death. Meaning that the magic in the Hallows will protect their owner from an untimely death until their owner is ready to move onto the afterlife. Or, at least, that is what Death told me when he spoke to me for the first time just now."

Kurapika flinched the moment Azalea spoke of speaking to Death before he reached out and snagged hold of her and pressed her close to him as if to assure himself that she was still alive. His hands then dropped down to Azalea's stomach in order to check on the babies (though their usual kicks were muted by the spell that had been used to create more room in her womb). Azalea couldn't fault him for his worry; she had been worried about the babies as well.

"The babies are fine, Kura," Azalea assured her fiancé as she reached up to kiss his cheek.

"How is it possible for you have spoken to the entity known as Death just now without our knowledge?" Chairman Netero asked as he glanced about the room as if expecting to see Death hovering about in the corner. "We have been sitting in the room with you this entire time and I am certain that I would have remembered the appearance of such an intimidating being."

"You will need to come to the Infirmary at Headquarters so that I can run several more tests on your and your unborn children; coming into contact with death or any type of death magic is bound to have affected those that is has come into contact with," Dr. Mackle stated as he mentally began compiling what could only be an extensive list of invasive and potentially humiliating tests to put Azalea and her babies through.

"There is no need for any tests; the magic in the Deathly Hallows will not harm me or my babies since their magic is bound to my magic much like Fawkes and Hedwig are bound to my magic. And the reason why I am the only one that saw and heard Death when he was here was because he stopped time in the house and froze everyone inside of it but me so that his presence wouldn't harm anyone in the house."

"Will you show us that memory?" Chairman Netero requested.

"I can show you part of the memory but the rest of it I am forbidden from sharing and I'd really rather not upset Death by attempting to go around the rules he gave me in regards to the knowledge about the Hallows and how they work."

"Let me know when you're ready and I will pull the partial memory," Remus instructed as he climbed to his feet and drew his wand again and Azalea reluctantly pulled herself from Kurapika's arms in order to make it easier for Remus to gather copies of her memories.

"I'm ready now; and you might as well pull the memory of my conversation with Mr. Ollivander and my conversation with my parents, godfather, and great-grandfather at the same time."

Less than ten minutes later, the four older adults were back in the pensieve viewing those memories and Azalea was once more wrapped up in Kurapika's arms. The Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone had been returned to their usual resting places upon her person while the Cloak of Invisibility was half draped over the two of them.

"You know it is rather ironic that you ended up with all three of the Deathly Hallows when you weren't even looking for them," Kurapika mused after a few minutes. "I can still remember teasing you about it back when you were still looking to replace your original wand."

"It was a shock when I learned they actually existed; I'd thought they were just a myth or that they were merely powerful objects created by talented wizards and portrayed as mythical objects due to the stories that revolved around the deeds of their various owners."

"Will you keep them? Or are you going to scatter them again?"

"Death implied that it doesn't matter what I do with the actual Hallows because their magic will be tied to my magic for the rest of my life," Azalea replied as she tried not to think about the fact that her 'life' would technically never end since she'd be reborn with her memories intact for eternity. "He also implied that they would not work for anyone else but me now that I've united them; though I could loan the cloak out to people I trust and it would still hide them. He did say that the wand would just be an ordinary wand in another's hand though."

"If the wand will not work for another; then why were you so adamant about not letting me take it from you last week?"

"I didn't learn that the Elder Wand will only work for me even if someone takes it from me until today. Until I spoke with Death, I still believed that the Wand would give its allegiance to whoever took it from me since that was the way that the Wand of Destiny had been passed from owner to owner since it was first created."

"Why did Death choose to show himself to you today?"

"He said something about sensing my growing fear of myself but I think he was talking about me fearing the magic of the Deathly Hallows and what using the Hallows might have done to the babies."

"Will that magic harm the babies?" Kurapika gruffly demanded as he slid his hands beneath Azalea's shirt to caress her much less noticeably distended stomach.

"No, he said that the magic in the Deathly Hallows is now tied to my magic and that my magic would never harm any child I carry. It was the magic in the Hallows that protected me from Voldemort's final Killing Curse as well; it had shielded me from the curse so that the foul magic never even touched me that day. I think the magic of the Hallows was the reason why I was unresponsive when I first woke up after the battle was over until you called me."

"Why do you think that?"

"Once Death left, the feeling of the world sliding back into focus and time restarting felt the exact same way it had when you first snapped me out of the numbness. Only I didn't feel quite as disoriented but that might have been because I hadn't spent quite as much time detached from the world."

The others would exit the pensieve about that time and Azalea spent another half an hour explaining what she had believed happened at the end of her fight with Voldemort before the three older Hunters would take their leave after making plans to return another day to view the memories of the final battle from several members of the Order.

* * *

**AN: **_I'll put up a note later... I burnt my hand tonight and typing kills but I promised this chapter so here it is. Profile will be updated another day &amp; PMs will be answered as soon as it doesn't hurt to type. ~ Jenn_**  
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